The Dirty Near Dozen
by One Lucky Unicorn
Summary: When you can't turn to a hero, sometimes you need a few good villains. Not your typical redemption story.
1. Alliances, Part 1

**The Dirty Near Dozen**

 **Author's notes:** The unfinished story that DND is based on,  The Dirty Half Dozen, was written by Auburn Red, who has graciously allowed me to adopt the plot. There are some major differences between the original story and DND, in part because new characters will always alter a pre-existing plot.

 **Episode One: Alliances, Part One  
**

Wake up. Eat. One hour of exercise out in the exercise yard. Stare at four gray walls. This was the daily routine that now made up Dawn Bellwether's existence. She heaved a despondent sigh as she lay on her side on her cot at Alpacatraz Correctional Center, located on the small island that the prison was named for. She supposed it was better than being out among the general population. She didn't fit in with these vulgar females, hardened by years of prison life, and for the ones who were predators, the diminutive sheep was a walking target. Dawn had heard that one of the herbivore prison gangs was so impressed by her scheme to smear predators using the Night Howlers that they were more than willing to offer her their protection. With the entire prison threatening to explode into a violent gang war and her life on the line, she'd been quickly moved to solitary confinement.

Thirty more years of this until she went before a parole board to plea for her freedom. She didn't know how long she was going to last in here. She even missed the cramped little broom closet Mayor Lionheart had made her use as an office.

Not feeling up to reading the new book she'd gotten from the prison library, Dawn tried to shut her eyes and sleep. That was when a bright light began shining through her eyelids, prompting her to reopen her eyes. A strange white light was filling her cell. Puzzled as to its source, she sat up, growing increasingly alarmed as the light steadily grew brighter and brighter before appearing to consume everything in sight.

* * *

Warp Darkmatter surveyed the destruction of the city. Pungent trails of smoke drifted into the air from the barrels of the Hornets' blasters, causing him to gag even through his helmet. Buildings swayed before crumbling into rubble from the power of the robots' attacks. Red-hot flames from the fires had caused the sky to turn blood-red, and people were running in all directions. It was complete and utter chaos. Evil Emperor Zurg wasn't going to like it.

Not the destruction, no. Rather, Warp had failed to catch Team Lightyear earlier that morning on Ryklon, the planet Zurg had ordered him to and which he was now witnessing the razing of. Team Lightyear had foiled Zurg's plans yet again. Warp had barely managed to escape with his life during that little escapade – a secret weapon Zurg had been working on, a giant laser cannon, was sabotaged by Team Lightyear and imploded as a result, taking out the entire base with it. Not that Zurg actually _cared_ about any of his agents' lives. The former Space Ranger regretted returning to Zurg empty-handed, and swallowed heavily at what the evil tyrant would say, or rather, what he'd do. He wondered if it wasn't too late to leave Zurg's employ.

Warp laughed at the idea. How? In the first place, no one just left Zurg's forces and lived. Besides, where would he go? Back to Star Command, where he wouldn't be welcomed back anyways and was already branded a traitor at best, and be thought of as second to Mr. Buzz "Wonderful" Lightyear at worst? Back to his home planet? No way! No, he had too much pride for any of those. _'Best get back to work.'_ the Saphiran/human thought.

A low, faint moan from nearby caught his attention. Warp glanced over at an alien woman crouched among the remains of a bombed-out shop, cradling a baby. She had obviously fallen trying to protect it. She raised her head to look at Warp, her dusty face smudged with tears.

"Let me help you." Warp sneered, changing his cybernetic left arm into its blaster mode and setting it to "Kill."

The woman only glared back with an exhausted fury as he aimed the weapon at her. The baby moaned a little.

Warp faltered. Something about this woman reminded him of himself when he was young, wandering aimlessly and unwanted with no family to look out for him. "Sorry lady." He softly said. "We've all suffered."

He lowered his blaster and didn't look at the woman and baby again. He was about to give the Hornets the signal to fall back when a strange light hit him. Spinning around, he could see the light, which didn't appear to have any visible source as far as he could tell, forming a portal. Deciding that he didn't want to stick around to find out what was happening, Warp started to run the other way, but suddenly found himself unable to move.

"Craters!" Warp cursed as the portal sucked him in.

* * *

Mozenrath and Aladdin faced each other from across the cavern, their handsome faces twisted in fury. Then Mozenrath was rushing forward, his right arm out and ready to snatch up a handful of the numerous magical scrolls off one of the bookshelves there in the cavern with them. Any one of these ancient writings would help restore him to full power, and he wasn't about to let some street rat stand in his way. He'd spent countless weeks traveling the Seven Deserts just to reach this underground cave.

But moving with his superior speed and agility, Aladdin darted by, yanking the scrolls out of Mozenrath's grasp as he did. Stopping, he glanced back at his longtime nemesis. "You're not getting any of them, Mozenrath!"

"You're so predictable, _hero -_ " Mozenrath shot back, voice dripping with sarcasm. Raising his gauntleted left hand in the air, he unleashed a blast of magical energy powerful enough to knock over the heavy shelf. "But I'm not!" The wizard finished just as the shelf fell on Aladdin with a titanic crash.

Striding over, Mozenrath examined the mess. Aladdin was out cold on the cave floor, the scrolls scattered around him. Leaning over, Mozenrath felt for the younger man's pulse. Still alive, damn!

"I'll deal with you later." Mozenrath told him. "Now, let's take a look at my prize." He picked up one of the yellowed scrolls, and unrolling it, began to read. "One tablespoon of flour, one teaspoon of brown sugar, one cup of butter... Bake until golden brown?!" He threw the parchment aside in disgust. Aladdin and his accursed Genie had tricked him! He raised his gauntlet once more, ready to kill the man lying at his feet.

Suddenly though, all anger and hatred drained from him, and Mozenrath began to think more rationally. He had never killed anyone before - not like this anyways, helpless and unable to fight. It would be so pointless when all he had to do was hold Aladdin prisoner. Princess Jasmine and the street rat's little band of friends would do anything to get him back alive and unharmed.

"Hey Al, where are you?" The voice of the Genie suddenly echoed through the tunnel.

Mozenrath prepared to attack. He was momentarily taken by surprise though when a brilliant white light blinded him. The wizard mentally called his magic to him, trying to fight against this strange magic that he could feel devouring him…

* * *

Large ears canted back, Lil' Lightning glared sullenly down at the bowl of unidentifiable brown goop an employee had just shoved into his cage before moving onto the next cage. At one time he ate only the best dog foods available on the market, to say nothing of the heavenly gourmet dog treats. Once, Lightning had been a real movie star – well okay, a co- _star_ , but still!

The Pembroke Welsh corgi had long since given up any hope that Royalty Studios, who produced "The Thunderbolt Action Hour" would ever come to claim him. He didn't understand why he'd been shipped off to the London pound so abruptly after that whole crazy debacle with Thunderbolt and that Patch kid. With their star missing after Lightning had seen to it that he'd be "indisposed" for awhile, the studio had used Lightning in Thunderbolt's place with no complaints. It wasn't as if Thunderbolt could have told them what Lightning had done, and neither Thunderbolt or Patch and the other dalmatians had been hurt or anything after their run-in with that crazy woman… Devil or whatever her name was. So no harm no foul, right?

Well if they didn't want him, fine. He rejected them in kind. Let them keep their precious Thunderbolt. What person _didn't_ want a cute, well-trained little corgi like him to take home?

Only... that hadn't happened yet. And even if it did, what if the person who adopted him was mean? Or lived someplace horrible, like the desert, or a dangerous crime-ridden city? Or the frozen North?

He'd been keeping track of how long he'd been there. A whole week had passed by. It was hard to ignore the fact that there was only so much space in the pound. Overcrowding meant that they needed to get rid of dogs in order to make room for more dogs that were coming in. And Lightning knew perfectly well how they disposed of dogs. The very thought caused his heart to catch in his chest. Was he going to die here in this nasty, cramped little building, unloved and unmourned by anybody?

So consumed was Lightning by his worries and fears that he failed to pay any attention to the white light behind him until it was too late. An alarmed whimper escaped him, only to be quickly cut off as the light pulled him into nothingness.

* * *

Morgana McCawber stared down at her feet, unable to look at the ducks and the humanoid stegosaurus and fish whose eyes bored into her. She hated this, but she knew what the charge was: an old friend of hers' from Transylvania had called on an old debt Morgana owed her. This was someone she'd known from her days at Eldritch Academy. The other witch needed a suitcase of drug money smuggled out of the States. Morgana had a nice clean record. Stupidly enough she'd agreed to do it, and been caught.

"Morgana McCawber, in light of these events, we have voted to place you on a ten month probation from the Justice Ducks." Gizmoduck tried to keep his voice even, but it was tinged with apology.

Lowering her head, Morgana walked out of the building.

On the way out she heard Neptunia whisper to Stegmutt, "I knew she was trouble the moment I met her. Why doesn't she join the Fearsome Five? She belongs with them!"

The witch had made it to the parking lot when she heard a voice call to her. "Morg! Hey honeywumpus, wait up!"

Morgana stopped as Darkwing ran to her side. "Boy, this parking garage could be smaller. Morg, I'm sorry for what happened in there."

"Don't be Dark. Neptunia's right. I don't belong with you guys." Morgana said wearily.

"I don't believe that Morgana." Darkwing tried to reassure her.

Morgana looked straight at him. "Then why didn't you stand up for me?"

Darkwing faltered, realizing his girlfriend had caught onto his true feelings.

"It's all right, Dark. You were right before when you said that people never really change. It doesn't matter now. You'd better go." She turned away as Darkwing started walking back to the building, speechless.

Now all by herself, Morgana fished around in her purse for her car keys. She pulled it out, but then the key chain fell out of her hand and underneath the car.

"Damn!" Morgana swore as she bent down and reached under the car to grab it. Her mind went back to the hearing and she started to cry. Caught up in her own problems, she ignored the white light which was surrounding her.

* * *

Lucretia DeCoy hid inside the abandoned house, waiting for her pursuers to give up their search for her. Outside, she could hear Wraith and Siege's voices grow louder and more frustrated.

"I thought I saw her over here!" Siege rumbled in his deep voice. The two Saurons growled and mumbled between themselves for several more minutes as they prowled around the house. Lucretia sat where she was, rigid as a statue, not even daring to breathe for fear they might find her. She felt something crawling across her ankle –some kind of insect most likely, but all she did was bite her lip to hold in a started scream.

After what seemed like hours, Wraith called Siege over. "I no longer sense her. Come, we'd better report back to Dragaunus. I warned him that dimensional limbo couldn't hold prisoners forever!"

Lucretia waited until the voices of the two reptilian aliens died away before she jumped up and began frantically stomping, dislodging a cockroach from her pants leg which she then crushed under the heel of her boot. Earth was crawling with these gross things. She missed Puckworld. Ever since that breach in limbo had opened and she and the other prisoners there had escaped, this was how she'd been living: moving from place to place, stealing for money, sleeping on the streets, and just barely hiding from the Saurons. _'Just like everyone else on Puckworld.'_ She thought bitterly.

Glancing over at her reflection in a broken mirror nearby, Lucretia considered herself. Her figure was still slender and attractive, but a lack of food and hard living was beginning to make her appear emaciated. Her wavy violet hair hung in tangles. Turning away, she slipped out the back and walked out into the alleyway. Maybe someone around here had a TV or something else valuable she could steal. She avoided going out in broad daylight if possible, not wanting her enemies to notice her, and would buy food and other important items off of gang members and other criminals in exchange for the goods she bought them.

' _This is what I've been reduced to,'_ Lucretia thought in disgust, _'Stealing other peoples' junk to survive. But,'_ she wondered, _'what else could I do?'_

Going back to the Saurons would be suicide. She wasn't _that_ despondent about her life - yet. ' _Maybe I could join the Mighty Ducks.'_ She had to laugh at that idea. The Ducks would never welcome her back. She'd be lucky if they didn't have her executed too.

Lucretia decided to find another spot to hang out at, and began walking away, trying to keep to the shadows. The former spy was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the person in front of her until she bumped him.

"Hey!" The man grumbled and turned around.

Lucretia found herself looking up into the orange, ugly face of Siege.

The huge Sauron grinned menacingly at her. "Hello gorgeous!"

For a moment, Lucretia was too shocked to do anything but stammer helplessly. "Uh - I've, uh – bye!" She turned and took off running until her legs finally gave way. Her foot hit the pavement, and she fell to the hard, cold sidewalk. The ex-spy lay there gasping in pain and fear, waiting for the Saurons to catch up to her. She trembled as a white light shone down on her...

* * *

Dijon Moustard strolled down the sidewalk of the Barks City Park in Duckburg, whistling as he tried to appear totally innocuous and innocent. Occasionally he was able to get close to a target, but the person would always either walk away or see him. The scrawny little dog's stomach rumbled with hunger. He hadn't eaten in a few days, but he had no money. Dijon felt a little disappointed with himself for still having to steal to get by.

 _'The first step to change is to acknowledge that you have done wrong.'_ Dijon recalled his older brother saying.

 _'Easy for Poupon to say.'_ Dijon thought, kicking at the grass in anger. He didn't have to live on the streets of Baghdad with all the bombs and death nearby. Mama had sent him to the university to become an imam, he was lucky.

The thief could see the tall, white, red-roofed form of Scrooge McDuck's Money Bin in the distance, and his mouth began watering with delight. _'I wonder if I could find that genie?'_ He remembered how good it made him feel to have all that money and the power that came with it, even if only for a short time. ' _Keep dreaming Dij and get back to work.'_ He told himself, sighing.

Dijon walked past some children who were playing baseball on the grass, a hot dog vendor, and three boys who reminded him of Mr. McDuck's nephews skateboarding, until he finally spotted a good target. Up ahead, around a bend in the sidewalk, a kangaroo couple was kissing on a park bench. The boomer had his back to Dijon, who's searching eyes picked out the edge of a brown leather wallet in the back pocket of his pants.

Dijon moved in. He acted as though he was just walking casually by them, but as he did, quickly and lightly pulled out the wallet. Wild joy welled up inside him. He couldn't believe his good fortune!

Out of the corner of her eye, the girl spotted Dijon. "Harold, that man has your wallet!" She cried, pointing at Dijon.

Her boyfriend sprang to his feet and whirled around to face Dijon. "Stop thief!"

Terrified, Dijon dropped the wallet and ran. He sprinted across the lawn and through the trees, not wanting to turn around for fear of seeing the kangaroo right behind him, or worse yet, a cop. "Allah," he prayed, "Please help me hide!" Suddenly, a white light enveloped him. Not caring what it was or where it came from, Dijon allowed it to take him.

* * *

"How are you feeling today, Robert?"

"I'm alright, doctor."

Robert Callaghan regarded the well-dressed middle-aged woman sitting across from him, his rugged face set in a mask of impassive calm. The public defender who'd been assigned to him had told him right off the bat that it'd be in his best interest to go for an insanity defense at trial. So here the former professor was, being interviewed by a forensic psychiatrist. Months ago it would've rankled him to be thought of as insane, but now he did find himself questioning his own sanity. Rational men didn't fake their deaths and run around wearing kabuki masks trying to kill children.

As the doctor continued to ask him questions, Robert knew he should be giving her his focus, but found his mind wandering instead. What was Abigail doing just then? He'd caught a glimpse of her from the back of the police car he'd been put in as the EMTs wheeled her into the back of the ambulance. He wanted so badly to see his darling girl again, hug her, hear her voice, but knew there was no hope of that happening now, not after everything he'd done. Even if the jury did accept his insanity plea, Robert was still probably going away for a very long time. That's what happened to murderers after all.

And yet… a part of him had to wonder. If he hadn't started that fire in the first place, then would he have ever discovered that Abigail had survived after all that time? That terrible question was like a Mobius strip, endlessly going around and around in his mind.

After about an hour, the interview was over with.

"Let's go." The guard commanded. Robert was escorted back to the tiny jail cell he'd been confined to for several weeks now. No bail had been set for him. The shackles restraining his wrists and ankles made movement difficult. He was relieved when the guard removed them.

As the cell door was shut and the guard left him without another word, Robert stood there staring blankly out into the corridor for a moment before turning slowly towards his cot. Before, he had had thoughts of vengeance to preoccupy his mind, but lately he'd felt so tired. These days, most of his time was dedicated to either thinking about what he had done or sleeping.

That's when it happened. It was like somebody suddenly aimed a spotlight right at his face. Robert's first instinct was to shield his eyes and back away. Where was all this light coming from all of a sudden? Wait - was it actually _pulling_ him towards it? "What -!"

He made a desperate grab for the leg of his cot, but his hands were ripped away as the white light sucked him on in.

* * *

With no moon to light anything, the African savannah was pitch black - a perfect time to steal into the Pridelands for a hunt. Pickings in the Outlands were lean, and the hyenas had been forced to roam further and further from their home turf in search of suitable prey. Shenzi wasn't having it anymore. Why should they have to wander so far when there was a thriving green territory with plenty of tasty animals right next door?

She, Banzai, and Ed were tearing voraciously into a zebra they'd just brought down. Shenzi relished the taste of fresh meat. She glanced over at Banzai and Ed, who were also chewing in satisfaction. None of them wanted to waste time talking as they wolfed down their kill. ' _Sometimes it's worth braving the lions to get this kind of meal.'_ The female hyena thought.

Ed suddenly looked up from the haunch he'd been chewing on and started chattering in alarm.

"What Ed?" Shenzi demanded, spearing her younger brother with an annoyed frown.

Banzai looked up in the direction Ed was pointing. "Shenz, lions!"

Turning, Shenzi saw Simba and his cubs - daughter Kiara and son Kion – charging straight for them. Kiara and Kion, while still not yet fully grown, were big enough now to give the hyenas a good fight.

"Run!" Shenzi commanded. Desperately the three hyenas sped off, the lions in hot pursuit. Shenzi dashed on ahead of her brothers until she felt a stitch in her side. She slowed her pace in front of a mound of grass. To her horror, she suddenly felt the ground give way underneath her, and with a bloodcurdling scream, found herself falling.

She landed with a thud. Letting out a gasp as the wind was knocked out of her, Shenzi lay there on the hard bare earth for a moment, dazed. Pain coursed through her frame. After a moment, she finally struggled to her feet. Looking around at the unnaturally steep sides of the hole – no - no, it was more like a pit - her head drooped low as she gritted her teeth, cursing her luck under her breath. How could she have allowed herself to fall into a hunter's trap?

Looking up, Shenzi saw Banzai poking his head over the edge of the pit, watching her. "You okay?"

"I'd be a lot more okay if you idiots would get me out of here!"

Banzai threw a quick look over his shoulder, in the direction of the lions. Then he did something Shenzi thought he'd never do under any circumstance. "Sorry, sis." With one last apologetic look down at her, Banzai motioned for Ed to follow him.

Ed frowned unhappily, upset at the prospect of having to leave Shenzi behind, but reluctantly joined Banzai.

"Wait - Banzai, Ed, don't leave me here!" Shenzi pleaded, hopping up on her hind legs and placing her forepaws against the pit's sides. When neither of them answered, she growled, "When I get my claws on you, I'll -!" But nobody was there to hear her angry threats.

Feeling tears sting at her eyes, the young hyena lay down and curled into a ball. She couldn't believe that Banzai and Ed had just deserted her. That Scar's insanity and arrogance would end up killing them all someday? Yes. That Scar's equally nutty widow Zira would hunt them down and slaughter them as payback for what the hyenas had done to Scar? Oh yeah. That the royal family would have them for lunch? Sure. Her own brothers abandon her? Never.

' _Shows how much loyalty we have for each other.'_ She thought bitterly. For the first time in her life, she felt ashamed to be a hyena. Shenzi's body began to shake with sobs.

A blinding light hit her, momentarily startling her. It was the dead of night. Was it the humans returning to see what they'd trapped? As the light blotted out everything in sight, her only thought was that hopefully the humans would take her out of the Pridelands and away from the furious lions that were going to find her sooner or later.


	2. Alliances, Part 2

**Episode One: Alliances, Part Two**

The sound of nine separate blasts, one after the other, resounded across the twenty-ninth floor of Khan Tower. Shere Khan looked up from the business section of The Cape Suzette Crier before glancing over at his nervous lackey, a small black and white rabbit. He then glared at the coffee that had spilled from the mug in his hand and formed a small puddle on his desk, as though his intense gaze would evaporate the dark brown liquid.

"My mug is half-empty." The tiger growled.

"That means it's half-full, sir." Jackrabbit joked meekly. Receiving only a cool stare in return, he filled the coffee cup until it was full again.

"Our guests have arrived. Show them in." Khan commanded.

Jackrabbit bowed deferentially, then left the room in silence.

* * *

If anyone had happened to walk into the spacious office just then, the odd assortment of unconscious individuals lying about haphazardly on the plush carpeting would've almost certainly given them pause. One of them was a pale, dark-haired young man whose slight frame was draped in a bronze-trimmed midnight blue and black tunic. Nearby was a tall middle-aged man with gray hair that was much shorter than the first man's was, as well as a white female duck in a long flowing red and wine dress who's white-streaked raven hair was piled atop her head, a small white sheep ewe, and a second female duck with long violet hair wearing tight purple trousers and a red cutoff top. An anthromorphic corgi, a blue-skinned humanoid male with a robotic left arm and who sporting futuristic armor, an anthromorphic female hyena who had long kinky headfur, and a brown male dog dressed in a long-sleeved shirt, vest, sirwal, and a turban made up the rest of the party.

A chorus of pained moans and groans rose into the air as everyone started to awaken and open their eyes.

Dawn pushed herself up into a sitting position, moving gingerly due to the persistent ache behind her eyes. As she adjusted her large glasses on her face, her eyes landed on Mozenrath and widened. She nervously backed away, accidentally bumping Morgana as she did. "Who – what _are_ you?"

"I'm more concerned about who brought us here and why." Morgana's green eyes glinted with suspicion as she eyed the wizard. He was the one person there who she was detecting strong magical emanations in. Only a magician could have had the power to abduct them. If there was trouble, then she might be the only person there who could protect everyone.

Mozenrath frowned at the females. "I'm just as lost as you two are. And exactly what manner of creatures are you two supposed to be?"

Before either could respond, Warp groaned, "What hit me, a space freighter?" He fought to stand, holding up a hand to his throbbing forehead. He wasn't the only one. The others also struggled to get to their feet while battling their own fierce headaches and aching bodies.

Shenzi rose unsteadily to her feet. It took a second before the shock bore into her - she was standing on two legs! "What the -?"

Suddenly feeling eyes on her, she looked around to find a brown dog transfixed on her. Shenzi looked down at herself and gasped. She hurriedly grabbed a nearby throw rug and wrapped it around her skinny body like a dress. That done, she stormed up to Dijon and grabbed him by the snout with her free hand. "Look at me that way again, and I'll develop a craving for dog food! Understand?"

Dijon nodded and she let go, causing him to fall to the floor.

"Ooo, smooth move ladykiller!" Lightning was laughing uproariously from where he'd been watching the scene.

Morgana was fronting Mozenrath, and she wasn't happy. "Why have you brought us here?" She raised her hand into the air, ready to launch a spell.

"I? How do I know you're not behind this?" Mozenrath's gauntleted hand began glowing red with magical energy.

Disgusted, Lucretia prepared to walk out, only to be blocked by Warp, whose cybernetic arm had been switched to plasma rifle mode. "Where are you off to, sister?"

"Nowhere with you!" Lucretia retorted, pointing her blaster at him.

Her eyes glowing in anger, Shenzi snarled at Dijon, who by then had gotten back up. Hastily the upset thief backed off, not wanting to have his muzzle or any other body part for that matter grabbed again, but not before growling back at Shenzi.

The six of them formed a circle, ready to attack or defend if necessary. The air was sliced with tension that physically manifested itself in Mozenrath, Morgana, Lucretia, and Warp's respective powers and weapons.

From the sidelines, Robert, Dawn, and Lightning silently watched as the six shouted at and threatened each other. They were being ignored – for the time being, anyways - due to not being obvious threats.

Dawn didn't have any weapons on her. Best to just let these weirdoes kill each other while she focused on finding a way out of… wherever she was. Hoping not to draw any attention to herself, she started edging towards the door that she'd noticed earlier, but found her progress halted when she bumped into something solid. Spinning around, she found herself face to face with a portly golden-brown and white dog not much taller than she was. His large radar-like ears added a few more inches to his height. Dawn jumped back like she'd been scalded.

Lightning was just as startled as Dawn was, but quickly recovered. "You mind, Fluffy?" He tersely snapped.

Dawn started to hurl an insult of her own when she suddenly realized something. Letting out a scream of alarm, she covered her eyes. "Put some clothes on, pervert!"

Robert, while wary, was to his credit the calmest person there. He certainly had no intention of getting between armed strangers, two of whom appeared to have energy weapons of some kind that he was unfamiliar with. He'd seen a lot in his days, but even his sharp mind was struggling to process what was happening – what _had_ happened to him. That strange white light that had warped him away made no kind of logical sense. These talking bipedal animals and bizarre people made no logical sense.

Hearing the sound of a door slowly creaking open, the nine stopped and turned to see who'd just entered the room with them.

Boldly - or as bold as a shivering rabbit could be – Jackrabbit stepped into the middle of the fray. He cleared his throat. "Mister, um, Mister Khan will see you now."

"Is 'Mister Khan' the reason we're here?" Lucretia asked him.

Nodding, Jackrabbit pointed at the door.

Warp shot the others a threatening glare before striding off in the direction Jackrabbit had indicated. "The only reason I haven't toasted you guys yet is because I'm waiting to see who this guy is so I can toast him!"

Jackrabbit stopped Shenzi and Lightning just as they made to follow everybody else. "Hold on. You two will need clothes."

"What's happened to me?" Shenzi demanded.

"The both of you have become anthromorphic."

Shenzi and Lightning exchanged confused glances before fixing their eyes on Jackrabbit once more."Anthro-what?"

Jackrabbit smiled as though Lightning was a child who had just used a word incorrectly. "Anthromorphic. That means you both have humanoid characteristics now." He looked Shenzi up and down. "You look to be my daughter's size. We live right here in this building."

Lightning coughed loudly. His ploy to get Jackrabbit's attention worked as he looked over at the corgi. "Don't worry, we can find something for you too. Come, I'll explain more on the way." He started to lead the pair out of the office, but Shenzi was growing far too distressed to go anywhere.

"So I'm a freak?" She asked, her tone panic-stricken. "Why? Who would do this?" Placing her hands on her head, she collapsed trembling to the ground.

Lightning rolled his eyes. "Listen, you're makin' a big fuss over nothing, sweetheart. Can't you see how useful having thumbs will be? And look, this makes us taller now too."

Ignoring him, Jackrabbit knelt down beside Shenzi and set a hand on her thin shoulder."You're not a freak - not here anyway." He reassured her. "And I imagine it was done so that you could blend in with the others better." He stood up, and taking her by the hand, led her out the door, Lightning bringing up the rear.

* * *

The rest of the motley little group meanwhile piled into the mysterious Mr. Khan's office. The huge room practically bled refinery and expensive taste. The artwork and sculptures there were replicas of famous works, while the immaculate desk at the back of the room shone with mahogany. The elegant furnishings contrasted with the lush private garden there.

"Is anyone else as confused as I am?" Lucretia asked nobody in particular, glancing around as she did.

Dawn decided to make herself comfortable in one of the several chairs there. "At first I thought this was all just a dream…" She fingered her gold bracelet as if making sure it was really there. Bizarrely enough, she was no longer in her hated orange prison uniform, but her much preferred skirt, blouse, and blazer trio. Even her glasses were her favorite ones, aqua tortoiseshell. "Did any of you see a white light before we woke up here?"

Dijon looked up from the white marble sculpture he'd been eyeing. "I did. Just in time too."

"Just in time?" Morgana echoed.

"Yes! Policemen were after me."

"Really?" Dawn purred, setting her chin on her hand and regarding Dijon with a tight-lipped smile and hooded eyes. "I'm sure you're just a poor, persecuted innocent that they decided to target for no reason at all, right?"

For his part, Dijon glanced away. "Uh, well…"

"I think I saw the same light." Morgana broke in. Most of the others chimed in with their own accounts of being accosted by an anomalous light.

"Well, it's clear that that light was responsible for bringing us here." Mozenrath matter-of-factly stated.

Forgetting about taunting the flustered Dijon for the time being, Dawn regarded Mozenrath quizzically. "But how is that possible? Light can't abduct people!"

"That's the million dollar question, lamb chop." Warp coolly replied from where he leaned against the wall. He paid no mind when Dawn shot him a dirty look.

Still struggling to come to terms with what was going on, Robert had chosen to simply sit back and listen to the conversation. He was too was inexplicably back in his regular attire - a long-sleeved brown shirt, tan sweater vest, and khaki slacks.

"Wherever we are, this building is in the clouds." Mozenrath marveled, pointing at the skyline that could be glimpsed from the floor to ceiling windows.

Warp chuckled. "That's because this is a skyscraper. It's a building with several stories."

Mozenrath cast an irritated glare at him. "Then how did we get on this - what do you call it? Skyscraper?" He didn't care for being condescended to. Being condescending was _his_ job.

Warp was about to respond when the door opened to reveal a fully-clothed Shenzi and Lightning. A bit calmer than before, Shenzi was dressed in an ankle-length purple dress with tank-top sleeves which barely hung off her shoulders. Her headfur had been tied up in a high ponytail on top of her head. On her feet were white sandals. "His daughter's got good taste." She said, pointing to the retreating rabbit.

Lightning was now wearing a pale blue long-sleeved dress shirt, with red suspenders and tan slacks. Clearly proud of his new clothing, he strode over to where the others were. "Hey, so I miss anything?"

Morgana shook her head. "We're still waiting for Mr. Khan."

Dijon meanwhile only had eyes for one person. As Shenzi stepped into the room, he stared at his feet while his mind searched for the right word. "You look, um… purple! Uh, I mean beautiful."

Shenzi smiled thinly.

A thought suddenly hit Dijon. "Maybe we're dead. Maybe this is heaven."

Rolling her eyes at him, Dawn crossed her arms. "So heaven's a corner office? Somehow I seriously doubt that."

"Miss Bellwether is right. This isn't heaven, but many of my employees do believe me to be God." A smooth, low voice purred from the plush red chair behind the desk, causing everybody to start. The chair swiveled around to reveal an anthromorphic tiger dressed in a fine blue suit sitting there. He grinned at his visitors, showing off his sharp teeth. His green eyes gleamed hungrily, like those of a predator that had just cornered its prey.

Not having expected to see the big cat, Lightning, Shenzi, and Dijon all took a reflexive step back at the same time, while Robert's eyebrows shot up in surprise. The only individuals who either weren't particularly intimidated or stunned by the tiger were Warp, Mozenrath, and a now narrow-eyed Dawn.

Khan appeared to delight in the stir his sudden appearance caused. "Welcome. My name is Shere Khan -"

"Then you're the guy who's about to get his kiester kicked." Warp declared, pointing his blaster at Khan.

Khan's toothy grin grew even wider, and very calmly, he pressed a red button located on his desk. Several guns and laser weapons of considerable size suddenly jutted out of the walls, every single one aimed dead at the would-be assassin. Reluctantly, Warp retracted his blaster.

Mozenrath grinned sardonically. "Really intelligent."

"As I was saying," Khan continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "Welcome to Cape Suzette in the year 1937."

Nine faces regarded him in shock.

"1937?!" Warp echoed.

"It can't be!" Lightning scoffed.

"We've gone back in time - how?" Morgana's eyes were wide, questioning.

"I have my ways, Miss McCawber." Khan answered evenly.

"You know who we are." For the first time since his arrival there, Robert spoke. It was a statement, not a question.

"Of course." Khan nodded. "Mozenrath, wizard ruler of the Land of the Black Sands. Morgana McCawber, member - or former member as it were, of the Justice Ducks and sorceress, once used her sorcery for monetary gain. Warp Darkmatter betrayed Star Command and became an agent of Evil Emperor Zurg's. Lil' Lightning, costar of Thunderbolt on _The Thunderbolt Action Hour_ before allowing him and countless puppies to be captured by Cruella DeVille to be made into a fur coat while he assumed Thunderbolt's role on the show. Lucretia DeCoy, a traitor to her homeworld and spy for the Saurons. Dijon Moustard, a thief formerly in the employ of Morlock and Flintheart Glomgold respectively. Dawn Bellwether, former assistant mayor of Zootopia before usurping Mayor Lionheart through means of bio-terrorism. Shenzi, hyena who used to be in the employ of Scar. And you are one Robert Callaghan, former professor at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology until stealing one of your prospective student's inventions and embarking on a rampage." As he spoke, he focused on each person in turn.

Nobody said a word until Dijon glanced over at Lightning. "You were going to let puppies be turned into a coat?"

"Oh shut up." Lightning grumbled.

Dawn began sarcastically clapping. "That's a real nice party trick Khan, but it still doesn't explain why you bought us here."

Khan coldly regarded the sneering sheep a moment before unsheathing the long claws of his right hand and closely examining each one. Catching the implied threat, Dawn fell silent.

"I have summoned you here because I need assignments done which require a particular skill-set by those with ... loose morals." Khan finally replied at length.

"Does that include me?" Morgana wasn't so sure she wanted to be acquainted with these people.

"Yes Miss High and Mighty, it does! You're here, aren't you?" Lucretia snapped. Sauntering up Khan, she seductively pulled herself onto his desk and leaned in towards him. "What can we do for you, honey?"

Mouth twisting into a sneer of repulsion, Khan pushed her away. "I need certain objects delivered to me."

Warp smirked humorlessly. "So we're your new delivery service. Sorry, but I don't work for nothing. What's in it for us?"

Reaching down into his desk drawer, Khan pulled out nine manila files bulging with papers. He handed them out to each person. "What you have in your hands are records of your past misdeeds. If you agree to this, you will return to your former lives with clear names and clean reputations." He waited for their skepticism and excitement to die down before going on. "In the meantime, you will live together, work together, and fight together."

"Then what?" Warp scoffed. "We get to throw a slumber party and braid each others' hair? Gossip about who has a date for prom and who can't land one?" He looked pointedly over at Mozenrath.

Dijon's hand shot up enthusiastically. "Ooh, ooh! In that case, could I order pizza?"

Unamused, Khan gave him the evil eye, earning a nervous whimper from Dijon.

Mozenrath too was scowling at Warp and Dijon. "In his own mindless way, the blue guy did raise a valid point. What if we refuse?"

Khan placed his hands together. "If you refuse or if even one of you dies, you will return to your former lives, where you'll be hunted down and imprisoned, or possibly even executed. And I believe some of your former employers and jailers aren't nearly as forgiving as I would be."

The room was quiet as each person let Khan's words sink in. The only sounds that could be heard were the ticking of a clock on the wall and the persistent drumming of Khan's claws on the desk.

"Would you excuse us?" Morgana asked him. She and the others moved away and formed a huddle.

Dijon was the first to speak. "I have nothing to go back to. I'll do it."

Robert nodded. "I don't have anything to lose at this point."

"I'd do it even if he wasn't offering us a chance to start over." Lightning piped up. "I'm done playing second banana!"

Shenzi looked down at herself in dismay. She pretended to weigh the consequences. "Let's see… definitely getting eaten by lions, or maybe getting killed out here. What choice do I have?"

"It might be nice to have a clean reputation." Morgana observed, remembering her fight with the Justice Ducks and Darkwing.

Anxiously Dawn wrung her hoof-like hands. She wasn't sure about trusting a tiger, but what other options did she have? "I guess I'm in…"

"My last boss fed me to a wormhole. This has to be better." Lucretia said.

"Unfortunately, job - and life security aren't guaranteed with Zurg. I'm in." Warp agreed.

They all turned to Mozenrath. He looked down at his gauntlet warily. With only half his powers intact from his fight with the ancient sorcerer Khartoum, he would never be able to take the Seven Deserts. He was as mortal as anyone now and not nearly as untouchable. He thought about Khan's threat and gulped. When he finally addressed his potential new teammates though, his usual mask of cool indifference was back in place. "Some of you look like you can't put on your own sandals. I'll do it."

That settled, the group turned to Khan. "We all agree." Mozenrath informed him.

"Good." Khan turned to face the Cape Suzette skyline. "My associate will show you your new home and give you your first assignment. Don't fail me!"

The nine left the office, closing the door behind them. Once they were gone, an angry voice growled from behind Khan, "I didn't waste valuable energy bringing them here just so they could fail. This had better work, Khan!"

"Patience." Khan reassured his partner. "They will deliver, and if they don't, they can either be returned or disposed of. It's no big loss. They won't be missed."


	3. Alliances, Part 3

**Episode One: Alliances, Part Three**

 **Author's notes:** Before we get into the latest chapter, I want to let readers know that there's now a short scene at the beginning of the second chapter that was missing the first time around.

Wherever one cast their eyes around the airfield, they could see planes, pilots, and mechanics. Practically every corner of the immense area was alive and bustling with activity. The planes varied from brand-new models fresh off the assembly line to old-timers that were ready for the scrap heap. Mechanics scrambled here and there, yelling orders and trying to repair this engine or that wing. Pilots sprinted to their planes, ready for takeoff. The pungent odors of aircraft fuel and smoke made everyone cough and gag.

Morgana, Lucretia, Warp, Shenzi, Dijon, Lightning, Dawn, and Robert took the presence of all the aircraft in stride. Only Mozenrath found himself a little frightened by the metal creations, but tried to hide it. "Are we to ride in these monstrosities?" He haughtily asked.

Watching him, the corners of Warp's mouth turned up into a mocking grin. "You don't know what they are, do you?"

The wizard tightly clenched his hand into a fist, ready to hit the tall ex-Ranger.

"Actually Mr. Mozenrath, none of these are your flight!" Jackrabbit yelled back in order to be heard over the deafening roar of plane engines. A small, sleek, black and red modernistic jet-like craft stood in one corner of the airfield as though waiting for the group. The curving wings jutted out from either side and shone in the sunlight. A row of three forward-curving fin-like projections rose from the top of the starcraft, terminating in jagged points.

" _That's_ your flight." Jackrabbit pointed it out to him and the others. "Welcome to your new home, Khan's Hammer _._ I trust you know how to fly it?"

Mozenrath's expression was one of confusion, so Morgana took the liberty of answering for him. "I've never even seen a spaceship outside of a science-fiction movie."

"Count me out." Dawn shook her head.

"I flew in an airplane once, but I got sick." Dijon put in his five cents. "But then Launchpad McQuack was flying."

Morgana nodded knowingly.

Robert had been studying the plane from the moment Jackrabbit had revealed it to the group. It was only the second time that day since Shere Khan had offered them the chance to redeem themselves that anyone had seen him looking animated. "Aircraft aren't one of my areas of expertise. Certainly not anything like this."

"Nope, sorry." Shenzi firmly said. "There's an unwritten code among Pridelanders that any type of machine is usually associated with human hunters and poachers. We're not too wild about being turned into throw rugs!"

"I played a pilot's dog in a movie once," Lightning proclaimed. "Which I don't think exactly counts here…"

Lucretia and Warp were closely examining the ship up and down. "Hydraulic spheres, class A…" Warp said to himself.

"No, look at the engines." Lucretia corrected him, pointing upwards. "These are overriding thrusts. It's a class B." Examining the starcraft more closely, a revelation struck the violet-haired duck. "I don't believe this. This was made on Puckworld! It must have been before…" Her voice trailed off sadly.

Concerned, Morgana glanced her way."Before what, honey?"

"Just before, okay?" Lucretia snapped back.

"Then you two can fly this?" Mozenrath impatiently cut in, directing his question at Lucretia and Warp.

"Yeah." Lucretia answered in a "what-a-dumb-question" tone. "I had my first flying lesson in one of these babies. In fact, some of my best memories happened on a ship like this."

"We used to train in ships similar to this. Actually, better than this." Warp explained.

"Good, then you two are our pilots. Any objections?" Mozenrath's gaze swept around the rest of the group. He only received stares in return.

Jackrabbit took the opportunity to hand Mozenrath a small white packet. "This is your assignment. Every time you return, you'll receive a packet just like this that will tell you what you need to get and where it is. They'll always be sealed. Even I don't know what's in them. Only Mr. Khan and just Mr. Khan knows. Good luck, and be careful."

Shenzi shuffled up to Jackrabbit. "Um, thanks for everything." She gruffly told him as everyone else began boarding the Hammer, keeping her gaze averted.

Jackrabbit presented her with a watery smile. "It's no problem. You'd better get a move on."

Shenzi seemed to deliberate for a second before finally smiling back. She then left to join the others.

' _Please be careful.'_ The rabbit anxiously thought, watching as the Hammer's door closed shut.

Inside, Warp and Lucretia made straight for the bridge, which was located at the front of the ship. Lucretia took the captain's chair. She pressed a few buttons on the console, and it lit up brightly as it came to life. Warp, who was seated next to her, switched on the navigation computer located on his side of the cockpit. Everybody else sat down in the passenger seats, trying their best to get comfortable in the little seats.

"Buckle up guys," Lucretia advised her new teammates. "It's been awhile since I've flown in this type of ship, but if I remember correctly, take-off can be stomach-churning for first-timers. Unless things have changed." She glanced over in her co-pilot's direction.

"Nope, it's still a Puckworld piece of crap." Warp drawled.

Lucretia flashed him a dirty look before hitting the power button and pulling back on the steering mechanism. The Hammer lurched and swerved left and then right before taking off. As the ship approached acceleration, it rocked and jumped three times. Varying reactions of queasiness could be glimpsed among the motley group - Mozenrath, Shenzi, and Dijon clutched their stomachs, while Robert's face turned ashen. Morgana uttered a groan, Lightning swayed slightly in his seat, and Dawn squeezed her eyes shut, ears drooping at the same time it felt like her stomach had dropped.

The pilots, who'd been observing their passengers, exchanged a "humph, stupid rookies" grin between themselves.

After the rocky start, Khan's Hammer flew smoothly through the warm sunny skies. By then everyone had grown used to the flight, except for Shenzi. Her stomach turned cartwheels anytime she tried to look in front of her, or at her legs, feet, anywhere but outside.

Sitting down beside her, Dijon reached out to touch her hand reassuringly.

The hyena rounded on him, her yellow eyes shifting to green. "Leave me alone! I can take care of myself!"

Taking the hint, Dijon got up and sat next to Morgana instead. He turned to Mozenrath. "What are we looking for?"

Carefully, Mozenrath opened the sealed envelope Jackrabbit had given him earlier and pulled out a note and some photographs. He read the note in silence. As he did though, his eyes widened. "We have to get the Three Orbs of Kashmir!"

Morgana whistled, impressed.

Mozenrath glanced up at her. "You know of the orbs?"

She arched a delicate eyebrow at him. "We studied the Orbs in school. How do you know about them?"

"You could say that I'm an extensive reader."

The others meanwhile exchanged perplexed glances. "What? What are these things supposed to be?" Dawn looked between the magicians, bemused.

"The Orbs are artifacts containing potent magical properties." Mozenrath explained. "One can create natural disturbances, one can take anyone anywhere they want to go, and the other can…"

"Heal or kill someone." Morgana reminded him." But they can only be used once, except the Transportation Orb."

Mozenrath nodded. "By Allah, they're ancient even by my time!"

"Magic rocks." Warp scoffed. "You expect us to believe that?"

Shenzi smirked, while Lightning started chuckling.

"Why not? A girl can always use some jewels." Lucretia cooed, but it was clear from her tone of voice that she didn't believe them either.

"It's possible." Dijon countered. "My brother's temple has a goose that will turn anything it touches to gold." He shuddered slightly at the memory.

Noticing Robert's silence on the subject, Dawn turned to him. His face had taken on a thoughtful expression. "Don't tell me you actually believe all this hocus pocus!"

"Well… magic could just be another word for science where he's from." He glanced at Mozenrath.

"Yeah. Another word would be 'fiction'." Lightning and the others began laughing.

Mozenrath didn't share in their amusement. "Despite what you non-believers think, real magic does exist." His gauntlet started to glow bright red. "For example, if I were to turn you into snails, _that_ would be magic."

Smoke the same color and hue as blood started pooling around the gauntlet, and suddenly in Warp, Lucretia, Lightning, Dawn, and Shenzi's places were five outraged snails. Morgana and Dijon could barely contain their laughter at the scene.

Mozenrath continued on in a conversational manner. "Or if you were to become, oh I don't know, fish, that would be magic too." Instantly they transformed into fish. "Or maybe if I were to turn you into -"

"Okay, that's enough." Morgana interrupted, though her voice still contained a trace of mirth. "Change them back. We need the pilots."

"I never get to have any fun." Mozenrath groused. "Now do you believe in magic?"

The five fish hastily nodded as they were reverted to their original forms, much to their shared relief.

During the entirety of Mozenrath's impromptu demonstration, Robert had sat there and watched, his mouth hanging open but no words coming out. Morgana noticed his stupefied expression. "I take it magic doesn't exist or is hidden where you're from?"

"I'm sincerely hoping it's the first one."

Returning to the matter at hand, Morgana pursed her bill in confusion. "Funny, I always thought that the orbs were supposed to be hidden. How are we supposed to find them?"

"Actually, we won't have to." Mozenrath replied. "They were already found by - are you ready? - Shere Khan, but were stolen by pirates led by a Don Karnage."

"Why are we supposed to steal these back?" Morgana wondered aloud. "What does Khan want to use the Orbs for so badly that he'd go through all this trouble to recruit us and get this ship? Am I missing something? Feel free to add anything."

"I don't know." Mozenrath admitted. "All I know is that you don't go through all this trouble and plan small. I never did. But let's do our jobs now and discuss this later." He turned to Warp and Lucretia. "Where's the hideout of these pirates?"

Warp punched in a few keys on the computer. "Well this is interesting. Their hideout is in a dormant volcano due east."

A painful burning sensation suddenly coursed through Mozenrath's skeletal arm, and he tightly gripped the limb. "Go there." He rasped, pointing west.

"But the computer -" Warp began to protest.

"Forget the computer!" Mozenrath snapped. "Go west!"

So Khan's Hammer headed west. The rest of the flight passed without much incident. During this time, Robert got up to explore the rest of the ship. Now he returned to rejoin the others on the bridge, carrying a laser rifle with him. "Look what I found." He held the large weapon up for everyone to see.

Warp's face broke out into a pleased grin. "Oh yeah, daddy like!"

"We got more than one of those, right?" asked Lucretia.

"Yeah, a whole locker's worth in the back there." Robert jerked his head back the way he'd come.

Shenzi on the other hand eyed the laser rifle like it was a poisonous snake. "Yeah, I'm not too big on guns. Teeth and claws work just fine for me, thanks."

"All you do is point the end with the hole in it at whoever it is you don't like and fire." Lightning explained as though he were talking to a two-year old.

Shenzi's eyes briefly flashed green. "Well in that case, why don't I practice on you?"

"Temper, temper, my dear." Lightning mockingly wagged a finger at her. "Remember, we have to keep each other alive."

"Don't remind me, tubby!"

When a small tree-covered island finally came into sight after a while, Mozenrath gave the signal to land. As the Hammer settled down on the beach, Warp activated the cloaking device, causing the ship to completely disappear from view. Everybody disembarked onto the golden sands. Dijon had a brown leather satchel slung over one shoulder while Dawn, Lightning, and Robert had taken the liberty of arming themselves. The latter turned to Mozenrath. "What makes you so sure the orbs are here?"

Mozenrath held up his gloved hand. "This, besides allowing me to wield magic, also lets me detect it." Out of the corner of his eye, he spied Dijon behind him, trying to finger the gauntlet when he had lowered his hand. "It also allows me to fry any thieves who are stupid enough to get caught trying to steal it!"

Frightened, Dijon dashed behind Shenzi.

Silently the group proceeded into the forest. In addition to thorny vines, poison ivy, and the humidity, mosquitoes and other biting insects were out in full force, making the trek an unpleasant one. Upon coming to a spot where the trees and brush thinned out to reveal a trail that split into a fork, Mozenrath motioned for everybody to follow as he took the left path. However, an unfamiliar voice startled the group. Scrambling behind some thick undergrowth, the nine tried to hide as best they could.

"I tell you, Mad Dog," a Scandinavian-accented voice said close by their hiding place. "I kicked something hard back there, but when I looked, there was nothing there."

"Aww, you've been drinking Don Karnage's secret rum again, haven't you?" Mad Dog replied in a whiny-sounding voice.

Upset, the other pirate hushed his companion. "You weren't supposed to know about that!"

Gradually, the voices faded as their owners moved on elsewhere. When they were certain the coast was clear, the Dirty Near Dozen came out of hiding.

"Okay, so what now?" Dawn asked.

Mozenrath massaged his smooth forehead as he deliberated their next course of action. After a moment he snapped his fingers. "Okay, Shenzi and Dijon will find those orbs and retrieve them. You four," he pointed to Robert, Warp, Lightning, and Lucretia, "Stand guard. Morgana, Dawn, and I will create a diversion."

"Great, that's your plan, marvelous, sensational - but how are we going to get past the pirates?" Lucretia impatiently demanded.

"Leave that to me." Morgana said, snapping her fingers. Standing beside her now were eight bewildered parrots. The witch ducked her head in embarrassment. "No, I meant pirates."

"Not bad for an amateur." Mozenrath commented with his usual flip air. "Now it's my turn." Calling on his own magic, he returned the others to their original forms before changing their appearances yet again. This time though, instead of birds, now they were what could best be described as shadow versions of themselves.

"Now remember, you must stay in the shadows." Mozenrath instructed. "You can pick up form, but be careful. I don't know how long this lasts. That's why the diversion is important."

The group kept to the shady parts of the forest until coming upon an enormous, predominately gray and purple airship in a meadow - the Iron Vulture _._ A coyote was standing in the front of the Vulture, addressing a group of at least two dozen pirates in a loud clear voice. "… And now, the man who has a first and last name for every pirate maneuver, the man who knows more than a hundred ways to torture a prisoner, your hero, our captain, Don Karnage!"

The pirates burst into wild applause as a handsome red wolf stepped out of the _Iron Vulture._ He was dressed in a fine red and blue captain's coat adorned with gleaming gold buttons, pristine white trousers, and black boots that shone just as brightly as the buttons did under the sun. He spoke in a heavy Spanish accent. "Thank you, my loyal fans! It's a beautiful day onboard the Iron Vulture, but of course, every time I'm around it is always a beautiful day, yes no?"

His audience laughed at the joke.

"As you know, I am Don Karnage with my own voice talking. We are preparing for our best plunder yet, yes no? Thanks to the little miracles we have 'borrowed' from Khan, now we will pillage Cape Suzette like never before!" The red wolf, Don Karnage, gestured grandly as his crew whooped and cheered loudly.

Lightning, who'd been listening along with the rest of the Dirty Near Dozen in disbelief, rolled his eyes at the pirate leader. "Boy, the bigger the dog the bigger the mouth. It never fails!"

Warp shared similar sentiments. "What planet is this guy from?"

"Who cares?" Lucretia retorted. "He's hot."

"Never mind that. Just get into your positions." Mozenrath ordered. Dijon and Shenzi slunk closer to the pirates, while the two aliens, Lightning, and Robert remained where they were and Mozenrath and Morgana, along with Dawn, preceded to sneak onboard the Vulture.

"Mozenrath, what kind of diversion are we supposed to create in these forms?" Morgana whispered as they carefully moved through the airship.

"Shut up and let me think! Hmm… we could create some kind of giant monster, or summon an army to attack them…"

While Mozenrath contemplated a list of possible diversions, Morgana looked around and spotted a perfect one. She lifted a large ring of keys off a hook on the wall and glided over to a small cell nearby. Sitting inside were two anthromorphic bears, presumably the pirates' hostages or prisoners. The older gray bear had his arms folded, while the much younger bear, his son possibly, had his arms crossed over his folded legs. One hand was fingering the dark green cuff of his green sweater.

Noticing what Morgana was up to, Dawn scampered after her. "Morgana! What are you doing?" She hissed.

"We can't just leave them here." Morgana replied, unlocking the cell door. The bears looked up, mystified by what had just occurred as well as somewhat alarmed at the sight of the strange shadowy figures outside their cell.

"Yes we can! We need to hurry up and do what we came here to do! Besides, they're just _bears_."

Meanwhile, Mozenrath was still busy rattling off ideas. "I got it: we summon the power of a storm, and -" He turned around and saw what Morgana had done. "… Or we could just let some prisoners out and let them do the work for us." Walking over, he addressed the bears. "Listen. Do you want to get out of here? Yes or no?"

The adult bear frowned suspiciously at the Mozenrath-shaped shadow. "How can we answer ya if we can barely see ya?"

"Just answer the question!" Mozenrath growled.

The bears hurriedly nodded.

"We need you to do us a favor. Create a diversion for us. Let the pirates know you're escaping."

The bears' eyes grew wide. "Are you nuts?!" The big one demanded.

"Do you want to find out?"

Deciding that they didn't want to take any chances with Mozenrath, the bears pushed the cell door on open and scrambled out. Once they were off the Vulture, the bigger one dashed over to where Karnage was having celebratory drinks with his men and shouted at him, "Hey Karny, looks like you need to beef up your security!" That done, the two bruins got out of there as fast as their legs could carry them.

Karnage couldn't believe what he was seeing. "How – never mind, seize them!" He turned to the nearest pirate, one of the ones that the Dozen had encountered earlier. "Mad Dog, go stand guard over the orbs!" He commanded as he and the rest of pirates left to pursue the bears.

By that time, Dijon and Shenzi had also made it onto the Vulture. Hoping to cover more ground, they'd split up to search for the orbs. From his vantage point, Dijon watched in silence as Mad Dog grabbed a chair and positioned himself beside a table. He saw that resting atop the table was a red cloth draped over what appeared to be a medium-sized box if its outline was anything to go by. Dijon moved in for a closer look. Carefully peeking under the cloth, he could see a clear case. Inside it were three opaque balls slightly larger in size then a softball. They cast a soft white glow.

Grateful for his good fortune, he went to locate Shenzi. It didn't take him long to find her. She was wandering through the cargo bay. "Shenzi," he whispered to the hyena, who glanced at him. "I found them."

Together they snuck back over to the table. Dijon went to work picking the lock on the case and slowly opened it. Reaching in while he held the lid open, Shenzi picked up two of the orbs before looking over at Dijon. "Take the other one."

Using his free hand Dijon quickly picked up the third, holding his breath as he did. He carefully shut the box and readjusted the cloth over it. As he turned to leave though, he accidentally kicked Mad Dog's boot.

Yelping in surprise, the jackal leaped to his feet. Unsure of what or who he was looking at, he frowned in confusion. "Who are you?" Noticing Shenzi nearby with the remaining two orbs, he didn't wait for an answer. "Don Karnage! Ghosts are taking the orbs!"

Hearing the commotion back at the Iron Vulture, the Air Pirates gave up the hunt and turned around. Dijon and Shenzi wisely chose not to stick around and left Mad Dog standing there as they dashed off.

Meanwhile, Morgana, Dawn, and Mozenrath had been waiting outside for Dijon and Shenzi to come out with the orbs. "I hope those prisoners got away." Morgana said, casting a wistful glance at the place where she'd last seen them running into the forest.

"Hey!" The three of them looked up to see Shenzi and Dijon exiting the Iron Vulture and running towards them. The nervousness in Shenzi's voice was perceptible. "Your dumb spell's not working!" She held up her hands to show Mozenrath and the others. They were losing transparency, regaining their regular texture and tone.

Mozenrath turned to Morgana. "You say you're worried about those bears? Worry about us instead!"

Shenzi wasn't the only one whose appearance was returning to normal. Warp, Lucretia, Lightning, and Robert also rushed up, the shadowy effect about them rapidly fading under the sunlight. Everyone was looking concerned to some degree by this latest development.

"Well, got anymore ideas under your belt, o glorious leader?" Warp dryly asked, looking Mozenrath's way.

Mozenrath fumed, but before he could fire back, Lucretia cut in. "Reassure me this plan wasn't a huge flop and that you guys actually found the orbs?"

Dijon produced one of the orbs from inside his satchel where he'd quickly stashed them.

Before the group could make an exit, the Air Pirates stampeded out of the forest. Upon seeing the Dirty Near Dozen, they halted.

"Hey, those aren't ghosts!" It was the voice of the same Scandinavian-accented speaker the nine had encountered earlier. The owner was a bulky gray wolf, and he was pointing right at them.

"Seize those - those creatures!" Karnage ordered his men. The Air Pirates let out blood-curdling cries as they prepared for battle.

"Attack!" Mozenrath ordered his crew.

Robert didn't take his eyes away from the pirates as several of them started towards him. "Stay together and watch each other backs!" He shouted at his teammates, but no avail. A hasty glance over his shoulder revealed that the situation had descended into chaos. Most of the Dozen, largely unused to fighting as an organized unit, and with a bunch of strangers no less, found themselves scattered and broken up by the pirates' rush.

"Morons." Shaking his head, Robert returned his attention to their enemies as he raised his laser rifle and aimed it their way.

Not everyone had fled though. "Staying together! Yes! This is a good idea!" Dijon exclaimed, hoping for some protection as he ran over to the older man's side.

As Dijon stood behind him with his fingers plugging his ears, Robert opened fire, aiming over the Air Pirates' heads or at the ground in front of them in an attempt to turn them back. The pirates' weaponry was less advanced then their own was as well as what was commonplace back in his world, and a part of him felt bad about holding such advantage over them.

His ploy worked, halting their charge for the moment. "Dijon, go find Darkmatter or one of the magicians and stay with them! I'll cover you!" He instructed the dog. Nodding, Dijon slipped away. Robert began edging his way back, looking to get out of the open and to a position that offered better cover while shooting in the direction of any pirate who looked like they'd noticed Dijon.

Further off, Warp and Dawn found themselves taking refuge behind two trees that were growing beside each other. Warp's trademark cocky smirk was absent for a change as he readied himself for battle, switching his arm into blaster mode. "Okay, stay behind me -"

With no hesitation on her part, Dawn started blasting away with a handheld blaster similar to Lucretia's. She quickly ducked behind her tree again when the pirates began returning fire. She threw an impatient glance over at a speechless Warp. "Feel free to join in!"

Shenzi fled into the forest with two pirates hot on her heels. _'I could run a lot faster on four legs!'_ She angrily thought. She let out a scream as her foot hit a rock and she tumbled to the ground. The pirates came to stand over her, their pistols aimed at her. Cringing, Shenzi braced herself before flinching at the loud report of their pistols. When she felt no pain though, she looked up in confusion. The pirates were down, and standing over them was Lucretia, blaster in hand.

As the Puckworlder helped her stand, Shenzi gave her a genuine smile, something that was a rarity for the hyena. "Thanks." She'd just barely gotten the word out before her eyes widened with fear as she stared at something behind Lucretia. The pirate called Mad Dog had just stepped out from behind a tree and now had a pistol pointed right at Lucretia's head.

For her part, Lucretia seemed completely at ease in spite of the danger she was in. "Now come on," She cooed, batting her long eyelashes at Mad Dog. "You don't want to hurt little old me, do you?" Seductively she trailed a dainty finger down his chest.

The pirate could only helplessly stammer as Lucretia went on to remove the pistol from his hand.

Instead of hearts, Mad Dog suddenly found he seeing stars instead as something hard was brought down right on top of his head. Shenzi dropped the rock she'd grabbed while Mad Dog had been distracted, an innocent "who, me?" expression on her face.

"Primitive choice of weapon, but I like." Lucretia's smile was one of approval.

"Uh, someone wanna lend me a paw here?!" Lightning could be heard yelling.

"I want those orbs, runt!" A sword-wielding dingo roared as he chased the much smaller Lightning across the clearing, ready to cleave him in two.

During the initial fracas, Lightning had lost his gun after being knocked down – by whom he couldn't really even remember. Everything had been kind of a blur. "I don't know what you're talkin' about!" He lied.

His wish was granted when Lightning's pursuer found Morgana blocking his path. "Out of the way, wench!"

"Wench?!" Morgana felt her temper rise. Calling on an offensive spell, she raised a hand and sent the dingo flying into a tree with a blast of psychokinetic force.

"I hope that hurt, stink-breath!" Lightning taunted the now-unconscious dingo.

Morgana wasn't really paying Lightning any attention, looking around for any other teammates who might need her aid instead. She caught sight of Mozenrath. The wizard had just zapped two other pirates with a nasty blast of magical energy, but didn't see the one who was sneaking up on him. Morgana created a hole in the earth underneath the pirate's feet and then closed it in around him, trapping him up to his neck in the ground.

"I saw him!" Mozenrath objected, having turned around in time to witness Morgana's handiwork.

Morgana allowed herself a smirk. "Didn't look like it!"

Mozenrath fired a blast at something behind Morgana. It turned out to be a pirate who'd been targeting Morgana with his gun. "By the way, you're welcome." Mozenrath told her.

With most of their enemies now incapacitated, wounded, or worse, the nine decided to make a break for it. "To the Hammer!" Mozenrath ordered.

"My turn to drive!" Warp called out as the group was forced to dodge trees, rocks, vines, and other obstacles as they fled.

"I call shot gun!" Lucretia shot back.

Seeing that they were fleeing, Don Karnage came out from behind the tree where he'd been firing on the Dozen with his pistol. He looked around at his men. Only ten of them were still on their feet and relatively unscathed. Ten, damn! "Get in the Vulture!" He growled. Not wanting to argue, the remaining pirates ran into the airship, fearing their captain's fury.

The Dirty Near Dozen reached the _Hammer_ and climbed aboard, and in a few minutes, she was ascending into the dusk-tinged sky. Glancing out one of the viewports, Lightning gasped as he spotted the pirates' airship giving chase. "Guys, they're right behind us!"

Dijon glanced over at him. "Are you sure?"

The Iron Vulture fired on the Hammer with one of its cannons. The ship rocked with the force of the blast, causing its passengers to grab for the nearest stationary object in order to steady themselves.

"Pretty sure." Lightning deadpanned.

"I'd like to see them try that again!" Lucretia dared.

The Iron Vulture shot another blast their way.

"Well, I didn't think they heard me." Lucretia offered.

Mozenrath began striding with purpose towards one of the Hammer's two doors. Noticing he was leaving, Robert called out after him, "And just where are you headed off to?"

"I'm going to stop them with my magic."

"If we needed to be chased by a fifty-foot tall snail, that would be a good idea." Warp sarcastically remarked.

Mozenrath rounded on him. "Why don't I shut you up permanently?"

"Why don't I have wizard flambé`?" Warp retorted, pointing his robotic arm, now in flame-thrower mode, at Mozenrath.

"Boys, this is really getting us nowhere…" Morgana sweetly began, coming in between the pair. "So why don't we stop fighting, shake hands, and _take care of those pirates!"_ Her furious roar was followed up with a few emerald bolts of magical lightning discharged from her fingertips right at the two men.

Their bodies smarting (and a little singed), their attitudes changed instantly.

"We're sorry."

"We'll be good."

The others struggled to either hide satisfied grins or stifle their laughter.

Trying to recover his lost dignity, Mozenrath carefully smoothed out his tunic and called for Lucretia. "Can you fire something at them?"

Not waiting to be told twice, Lucretia used the computer's targeting systems to lock onto theIron Vulture. When she was sure it was in the right position, she fired the dual plasma cannons. The attack, significantly more powerful then what the Vulture normally tended to go up against, struck the airship. The place where it had been hit quickly caught fire, and the Vulture fell to the island below.

Cheers rose up from most of the Hammer's occupants, and Dijon hugged Morgana in his excitement. While more outwardly restrained then his cohorts, Robert did allow himself a content smile.

"What a fine day!" Dijon exclaimed brightly. "We have the orbs, we took care of those pirates, and we got away! Things are looking up!"

That was when they noticed five helicopters hover into sight and surround the _Hammer_.As many as one to three different species of anthromorphic animals, most of whom wore the dark blue uniforms of police, occupied the aircraft. All were stern-faced as they regarded the starship.

"Wrong about everything." Dijon muttered darkly.

"This is the Cape Suzette police!" A bulldog in the foremost helicopter shouted at them over his loud phone. "We ask that you please land your vehicle and come out with your hands up!"

Shenzi was the first of the gang to find her voice. "What now? Do we blast 'em again?"

Lucretia shook her head. "No can do. There are too many of them, and one of the more interesting features about this type of ship is that the lasers need time to cool down after firing."

"Dijon, give me one of those orbs!" Mozenrath demanded. Shrugging, Dijon handed over one of the glowing balls.

' _I hope this is the right one.'_ Mozenrath thought, holding up the orb and proclaiming, "I wish that this ship, the crew, and I were all someplace else!"

Before the officers' stunned eyes, the ship seemed to wink out of existence. Onboard the Hammer, its occupants weren't aware of anything different or strange. Dawn peered out of the nearest viewport, unsure of what she might see. Below, the ocean stretched out for miles on end in every direction. "Where are we?"

Lucretia looked down at the coordinates. "According to this, we're still in 1937. About 3,000 miles from Cape Suzette."

"How long will it take us to get back there?" Morgana asked her.

A calculating gleam entered Mozenrath's dark eyes. "Who's to say that we have to?"

Everyone turned to him, surprise and bewilderment etched into their faces.

"I'm serious. We have the orbs, so we can go anywhere we want to now. What's to stop us?"

"I'll tell you who." Morgana crossed her arms. "Khan. If he has enough power to bring us here, then he probably has the power to find us. We should just take the orbs to him."

"Then I have another idea. Illusions are one of the easier spells to maintain." Taking the entire satchel from Dijon, Mozenrath made his way over to a small table behind their seats. There he set the satchel down and opened it slightly so that the orbs could be seen. As the others gathered around to watch, he waved his hand over the objects and an identical set appeared. "These are real, those are the fakes." He pointed to each one in turn. "We'll just take these to Khan, but the real ones we'll keep."

Morgana frowned. "I don't like this."

Mozenrath glowered at her. "You don't have to like it. We're going to have to work together for Allah knows how long. Rather than add more enemies to our respective lists, I suggest we pretend to like each other and ride this out for however long it lasts. Then when it's over, we'll get as far away from each other as we possibly can. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Everyone chorused.

* * *

As the Hammer went along on its way, there was movement among the wreckage of the Vulture. After having been fired on, the Vulture had landed (mostly) in an inland lagoon. A wet figure was pulling himself out of the smoldering remains of the great airship.

Looking around, Don Karnage winced as he saw what had become of his precious Vulture. Thankfully the injuries he had sustained weren't too bad, but it took all of his strength just to swim to shore. Once he made it he just sat there, stunned by everything that had just occurred. He'd never dreamed of such a cataclysmic day befalling his Air Pirates. He would've expected Shere Khan or another enemy to destroy his empire first - even that buffoonish pilot Baloo. Maybe. But to be brought low by nine total strangers? Some of them didn't even look like they were from this world, and apparently could transform into shadows. So what were they really then? Monsters? Demons?

For a moment he gazed at his battered and bloodied reflection in the lagoon. Then, the stillness of the flawless turquoise waters was broken as he brought a fist crashing down on it. Supernatural entities or not, whoever those strangers were, he would make every single one of them _pay_ for what they'd done.

"You have made a dangerous enemy, _mes amis_!" Karnage growled through clenched teeth.

 **Translations:**

French:

Mes amis: My friends.


	4. Betrayal, Part 1

**Episode Three: Betrayal, Part One**

Inside his personal office at Khan Towers, Shere Khan listened over the gold and ivory rotary dial telephone with increasing displeasure as one of his pilots reported what had happened with the Dirty Near Dozen.

"We were unable to locate them or retrieve the orbs, sir. According to the police, they disappeared almost as soon as they got there -"

"Enough excuses!" Khan cut the pilot off. "When you return, we will discuss your future with my company, or probable lack thereof!" He slammed the phone down on the receiver and turned his chair around to face someone behind him. An unearthly green glow threw his face into light and shadow, lending him a sinister appearance.

"They have the orbs, but have yet to return."

"Do you trust them too?" The voice demanded. "We have been watching and we are most disappointed, Khan! After all, those who betray their own kind are sure to betray others."

"Shall I send my men after them?"

"No, that's too much. Have one person follow them to see what they're up to. Then once we find out, everything can go as planned. You and I can both get what we want, and they'll get what they deserve."

"I know just the perfect person." The tiger replied, switching on the intercom.

"Yes sir?" Jackrabbit's reedy voice filtered through it.

"Get me Don Karnage."

* * *

Morgana tried to appear nonchalant as she looked up and down the Hammer's narrow corridor for Shenzi, Dawn, or Lucretia. When it seemed like she would be alone, she retreated into the little room that the four of them would be sharing for the time being, opened her purse, and pulled out a silver vintage hand mirror. Its frame was decorated with elegant art deco designs. Morgana gazed into it, remembering what her brother Draco had told her after he bought it for her in Paris: _"If you look into it, it'll show you anyone you wish to see."_

Morgana seated herself on one of the two bunk beds there that she'd claimed for herself. She gripped the mirror's handle in her hands, mouth dry with anticipation. "Show me Darkwing Duck."

The mirror's flawless surface shimmered like a pool of water before the image of Darkwing Duck replaced her own reflection. She observed with interest as the purple-suited crimefighter faced off against one of his many nemeses, the F.O.W.L agent Steelbeak, at his jungle hideout and proceeded to battle the white-suited rooster's henchmen. "I miss you, Dark." Morgana whispered. The thought that she might never see Darkwing again felt like a knife to her heart.

"He's cute." A bawdy voice cut into Morgana's wistful reverie.

Morgana jumped. Regaining control of herself, she quickly brushed her fingertips across the mirror's surface. Darkwing faded from view just as he was about to get the drop on a fleeing Steelbeak, replaced by Morgana's own reflection. Due to its supernatural qualities, the glass remained perfectly clean. Glancing up, Morgana found herself looking at Lucretia, who was standing in front of her, eying her expectantly. She moved over to give Lucretia some space to sit beside her, which, surprisingly enough, she did.

"Is he your husband?" Lucretia asked her.

"No, he is – was, maybe - my boyfriend. I guess I was sort of hoping he'd be my husband someday."

"Was he that good?"

"Yes." Morgana sighed. "He was, but that isn't important. We loved each other."

The Puckworlder smirked. "Sure you did. If you loved each other so much, why are you here alone? Why isn't he here with you or vice-verse?"

"Because… things didn't work out the way I'd hope they would." Morgana answered. Unimpressed by her own response, she added with more strength, "But he's a good man and a hero."

Lucretia nodded, but then gave a roll of her eyes. "Sure he is. He's a saint I'm sure, who'd never dream of cheating on you, or come home drunk and beat on you, or deciding he doesn't want kids and leave you knocked up never to return."

"He's not like that!" Pushing herself up and off the bottom bunk, Morgana gilded across the small space, towards a large wall-mounted screen and just stood there. Right now it was off. In the screen's reflection she could see Lucretia. Her head was bowed, and she hadn't moved from her position. Something about her posture indicated that she had revealed more about herself in those flippant remarks than she'd intended to. It occurred to Morgana that there was so much she didn't know about her new teammates, this girl in particular. Something about her reminded her of herself when she was younger. Morgana would never brag about having a squeaky clean background – prior to meeting Darkwing, she'd been using magic to give her pizzeria an unfair advantage over her mortal competition. When Shere Khan had rattled off that list of everyone's crimes before, she thought most of the others sounded like monsters - the very sort of people Darkwing would bust and see taken off to jail. Now she found herself reassessing that initial judgment. She turned to face Lucretia. "Do you have someone?"

Lucretia looked up at her, now wearing a cheeky smile. Her sense of humor had returned. "I have boyfriends all over the place."

"Any right now?"

"No." Lucretia said, standing. "I'm married to my work." She strode out, leaving Morgana alone once more.

Morgana held the mirror up to her face. She almost called for it to show her Darkwing again, but then Lucretia's words came back to her. She shoved the mirror into her purse, tears threatening to sting her eyes.

* * *

"So you will do it?" Shere Khan asked the red wolf seated across the white sheet-covered table from him in what appeared to be a stylish dining room. In actuality, they were onboard Khan's private airship, which was cruising lazily over the city. The Austrian crystal glasses resting atop the table, one of which still contained a little red wine, sparkled in the afternoon sunlight that was shining in through the windows. Khan had just finished explaining his and his partner's plan of action to Don Karnage.

"Of course I will sir. You can count on your favorite pirate!" Don Karnage declared, throwing him a salute. "But sir, they seem to have the luck of the devil himself, yes no? They defeated my men and shot down my beautiful Iron Vulture like she was nothing!"

His turn of phrase brought an amused smirk to Khan's face. "Who needs the luck of the devil when you can have the real deal by your side? They're no match for my associates."

"Associates?" Karnage echoed. As soon as the word left his lips, a green mist seemed to manifest out of nowhere to swirl around them.

"Welcome to our organization, Don Karnage." A feminine voice dripping with pure malice purred in his ear. "Soon you will be a part of our New Order."

Jackrabbit stood nearby ready to assist his employer. Gesturing him over, Khan handed him a small white envelope. "Give this to the mercenaries."

Jackrabbit nodded obediently, but regarded Karnage with barely concealed contempt. He kept as far away from the strange mist as possible, and was visibly relieved to be able to leave the room.

When he was certain that Jackrabbit was well out of earshot, Khan turned to Karnage. "I don't trust him. Before you go after our wayward friends, I have another assignment for you…"

* * *

Mozenrath woke up the next morning in a foul mood. He'd stayed up all night studying the orbs and trying to figure out what made them so special. coming up empty-handed frustrated him. Not to mention the fact that he couldn't get any sleep with so many people in such close proximity to him. It made him long for the comforts of his palace, the Citadel - which was a laugh since the Citadel hadn't been a comfort before, but at least it was familiar and was his and his alone. Well, Xerxes was there too, but Mozenrath didn't count him as a person. Mozenrath would only admit it to himself, but he sort of missed that stupid eel. _'At least things would be more bearable if he were here.'_ Mozenrath thought.

His mind then went back to the orbs. The real ones could be useful in restoring his lost power. For all his ambitiousness however, he knew he was taking a serious risk in attempting to deceive their enigmatic employer. Would the others really go along with his ruse, or tell Khan what he done?

Looking out one of the viewports, Mozenrath could see the Cape Suzette skyline, with its soaring buildings and airplanes flying across the skies. _'Better get the others up and make Darkmatter turn off the auto-pilot.'_ Mozenrath told himself, remembering the strange new word from the night before.

Rising, he departed the bridge and headed for the section of the ship where the crew quarters were located. He opened the door to the room that he was supposed to be sharing with Dijon, Lightning, Robert, and Warp. The cabin was a simple affair. The only amenities consisted of a pair of bunk beds and two storage lockers. With Warp, Robert, and of course Mozenrath quickly laying claim to the beds, Dijon and Lightning had squabbled over who'd get the last available bunk, or the less desirable option, a folding cot. It'd come down to rock, paper, scissors.

The other men all seemed to be asleep. Or at least the only things Mozenrath could hear was the sounds of light snores and Dijon whimpering and muttering in his sleep.

Mozenrath approached Dijon, who lay curled up on his cot. The scrawny dog, who seemed to be having a dream, was scratching at one ear. Mozenrath gave him a none-too-gentle shake. "Get up."

The young dog mumbled a bit, but remained asleep. The wizard shook him even harder. "Dijon, wake up!"

Still the dog slept on. Growing irate, Mozenrath pushed him to the floor.

"Aww, but Mama, I don't want to go to madrasa today..." Dijon sleepily murmured, shifting around a bit to get more comfortable before falling sleep once more.

 _"Dijon, wake up!"_ Mozenrath shouted.

That did the trick. Startled, Dijon sat up hastily and began rubbing at his eyes, groggily regarding the imperious-looking man standing before him.

"We're almost in Cape Suzette. Wake the others."

"You could have done it yourself." Dijon grumbled.

Mozenrath just glared at him, his gauntlet beginning to glow. Dijon let out a terrified yip as he ran out of the room.

Outside, he knocked on the door of the women's quarters. Morgana opened it, revealing herself to be wearing a see-through black negligee.

"We're close to Cape Suzette." Dijon informed her. "You might want to get undre - uh, I mean dressed."

With a snap of her fingers, her outfit changed back to the long two-toned ruby dress she'd worn when they first met yesterday. "I think I'll keep my hair down." She pointed to her raven hair, which now nearly tumbled down to her waist. "Lucretia's already up I think, so why don't you wake up Shenzi? I'll take care of Dawn." She waved him on into the room.

Carefully Dijon entered. He supposed he'd been expecting something to be different or interesting about the cabin since it was occupied by ladies, but was a little disappointed to see that it looked no different from the men's. He gave the bunk Dawn occupied a wide berth. She was sleeping with her back to him, much to Dijon's relief. He had no idea why she seemed to dislike him so when they'd never even met before. Who knew that such a little sheep could be so intimidating? The one good thing was that he wasn't being singled out, as she seemed to share an equal amount of scorn for Shenzi and Lightning.

Speaking of which, he saw Shenzi lying on the floor next to one of the bunks, tossing and turning in her sleep. She was muttering something. Dijon could hear the fear in her voice and made out the words "Banzai" and "Ed". Her struggles became more frenzied.

Kneeling, Dijon grabbed her around her thin shoulders. "Wake up, it's just a dream. Banzai and Ed aren't here."

Dusky eyelids fluttering open, Shenzi's eyes landed on his face before moving around the room. "Where am I? I'm not in the Pridelands, am I?"

Dijon shook his head.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Mozenrath says it's time to get up."

"Well, go and let me get dressed!" Despite the command, Shenzi's voice was without its customary bitterness and hostility from the other day, more dazed from the dream instead.

Obediently Dijon left.

* * *

Elsewhere aboard the Hammer, Lucretia wandered aimlessly through the ship. Having awoken sometime earlier before any of her cohorts had, she'd slipped quietly out of the cabin. She was glad morning had finally arrived. The flight back had taken all night. She couldn't wait until they arrived in Cape Suzette - no, scratch that, she couldn't for the _whole_ mission to be over. Anything was better than listening to that McCawber bitch go on and on about her wonderful, too-good-to-be true boyfriend.

Actually, she knew that wasn't true. So far Morgana almost never talked about Darkwing Duck unless she was asked, and when she did, s never bragged about him. She was nice as could be, and that's what bothered Lucretia so much. Maybe it was sharing a room with three other women that left her so unsettled. At least with men Lucretia knew her place. They were either really interested, married, gay, or too powerful for her, like Dragaunus. With women she didn't. Dawn didn't bother Lucretia quite as much as Morgana did, but the ex-spy and the ex-assistant mayor seemed about as different as night and day. To Lucretia, everything about Dawn made her sound like the type who was happy to just stay behind the scenes pulling the strings. She probably never had to hustle for a living a day in her life either. They hadn't said too much to one another. Shenzi was okay. The hyena didn't have anything to live up to, and they were kind of getting along.

"Hey Lu."

Turning, Lucretia saw the aforementioned girl approaching her, and stopped so she could catch up. "Hey. You fall out of bed during the night or something?" She asked. "You were on the floor when I got up."

"Oh yeah. I just couldn't get comfortable on that whatchamacallit. Mattress? Yeah. Decided the floor looked much better." Shenzi paused to sniff the air. Lucretia frowned and started to ask what she was doing when the same scent that Shenzi had picked up on hit her nostrils. Their eyes met. "Food!"

The two of them knew just where to go. Their kitchen was just barely larger than their cabin was, but did include a range (which was tiny too), a small refrigerator, and a table. Robert and Lightning were already there eating breakfast, or at least Lightning was. All Robert had was a thermos that he was sipping the contents of. He andLightning glanced up at the young women as they entered.

Lightning waved a strip of bacon at them. "Can I interest you ladies in some crispy bacon?"

"You know how to cook?" Lucretia asked.

"I wish. No, my friend Robert here has the credit for this one." He jerked a thumb at the former professor.

"Most of you don't exactly look like the types who know how to make breakfast." Robert said without looking up. "Or cook period in some cases."

"Ooo, handsome _and_ knows his way around a kitchen." Lucretia purred. "I'm impressed."

Robert offered no response or reaction, only continuing to focus on his coffee instead.

After grabbing plates and loading them up, Lucretia and Shenzi sat down and began shoveling food into their mouths like it would get up and flee at any minute.

Lightning and Robert watched them in mild shock before exchanging glances.

Lightning spoke. "So, uh, it must have been a while since your last meals, huh?"

Lucretia only nodded, her bacon and eggs getting most of her attention. Shenzi on the other hand managed to speak around a mouthful of food. "Try _days_. Before Khan dragged me here, me and – I was chowin' down on some tasty zebra when these bossy, stupid lions showed up and ruined lunch."

Lucretia stopped wolfing down her food long enough to ask, "Why doesn't somebody just take these lions out if they're such pains in the ass then?"

Shenzi almost choked. Grabbing a nearby cup of orange juice, she took a long drink before answering Lucretia's question. "Oh man, I wish! But it'd be a suicide mission tryin' to take on any of _them_ on. Nah, best we hyenas know our places and stay there."

"That's life, isn't it? Overrated, undeserving glory hounds run the show while the rest of us have to just sit there and take it." Lightning's own expression soured as his mind revived humiliating memories from his days as Thunderbolt's goofy little sidekick.

"Oh, you mean like how Mozenrath treats us like his rent-a-thugs?" Warp's voice suddenly cut into the discussion. He swaggered into the kitchen.

Robert favored him with a brief but distinctly unimpressed glance. "Well, when you figure out a way around those powers of his, be sure to let us know." He raised a point that was until then unspoken, but one all of them were well aware of – aside from Morgana and maybe Warp's own cyborg abilities, none of them had anything that could match Mozenrath's magic.

Warp gave him a humorless smirk in return before opening a storage closet door. Rooting around inside, he came out with an apple that he then bit deeply into. "Everyone has a weakness, Gray." He said after swallowing a mouthful. _"Everyone._ It's just a matter of finding it."

"Betcha I can find it before you can. Sometimes a little charm goes a long way." Lucretia matter-of-factly stated. Seeing Lightning going for the last biscuit, she suddenly leaned forward, making eyes at him as she did. "Do you want that, sugar?"

Grinning dopily, Lightning hurriedly shook his head and offered her the pan. "Uh, no! H-help yourself!"

Holding the biscuit up, Lucretia triumphantly looked around at the others. "See?"

* * *

The Dirty Near Dozen made their way up to Khan's office, meeting Jackrabbit by the door. Mozenrath clutched the bag containing the fake orbs close to his body as he passed by him, as though worried the assistant could see right through it.

Jackrabbit said nothing, but as Morgana brushed past, he placed a white packet into her hand. "Meet me in the parking garage after you're done." He whispered to her.

Inside, Khan was seated at his desk, staring at them like they were nine flies trapped in a web and he was the spider. His green eyes seemed to practically glow within the confines of the darkened room.

Mozenrath's tongue suddenly felt dry, and his heart pounded in his chest. _'Come on.'_ He chided himself, ' _I've pulled double-crosses before. This is no different.'_ Walking forward while everyone else remained where they were,he set the bag on Khan's desk without a word and waited.

The tiger opened the bag. Mozenrath risked casting what he hoped looked like a nonchalant glance back at his teammates. Thankfully, no one was outwardly displaying any emotion other than their usual respective demeanors, but Mozenrath could practically smell the anxiety and terror radiating from each of them. He was just waiting for one of them to blurt out the truth. He could only hope they found his scheme to use the real orbs to go wherever they wanted tantalizing enough to remain loyal.

Khan pulled out each orb and closely examined them one at a time through a small magnifying eye glass. His examination seemed to take forever. The ticking of an ornate grandfather clock was practically noisy in the silence of the office.

When Khan was done, he looked up. "Well done on your first assignment. You met my assistant at the door and he gave you your next assignment?"

They all nodded.

"Then go! I'm glad to know my supreme efforts weren't wasted." He turned his chair around, signaling that the conversation was done with. The nine left, happy to be free of the office and its disconcerting occupant.

"'Thank you all for your service and hard work.'" Lightning mimicked Khan's voice and deadpan demeanor as the group walked to the elevator before switching back to his normal voice. "'Oh, you're so welcome Mr. Khan!' Jeez, you'd think he'd let us rest before giving us our next assignment."

"No such luck." Lucretia groaned.

Robert looked to Morgana. "What did Jackrabbit want? I saw him say something to you."

"He wants us to meet him out in the parking garage."

"Why the sudden change in routine?" There was a note of suspicion in Mozenrath's voice.

"Maybe he's got something important to tell us he can't say in front of Khan." Shenzi hopefully offered.

"Or he could be setting us up for a trap." Lightning pointed out.

"C'mon, are you guys seriously scared of a widdle bunny wabbit?" Warp scoffed. "Let's go see what he wants, and if he tries anything, then we just have ourselves a little weenie roast." He held up his robotic arm.

After getting off on the first floor, the group walked through the lobby and went outside to the parking garage. Other than all the vehicles there, it was empty. None of the Dozen could see Jackrabbit anywhere in the dimly lit area.

Mozenrath looked to Morgana, one eyebrow raised. "Are you certain he said to meet him here?"

She nodded emphatically. "That's what he said verbatim."

Dijon had wrapped his arms around himself. Now he started to shiver all over. "What if _he_ knows?"

Everyone knew who he meant.

Mozenrath didn't appreciate his comment, piercing Dijon with an angry glare. "He couldn't! My spells are full-proof!" But it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than anything else.

The others were beginning to look uneasy as well, and huddled closer together. The darkness around them had now taken on a menacing quality. What if Shere Khan's men were hiding somewhere in there with them, ready to punish them all for Mozenrath's transgression?

Morgana rounded on Mozenrath. "I told you your plan was going to backfire -!"

"Let's just get out of here!" Dawn's voice was an anxious hiss.

"Good thinking. Discretion is the better part of valor!" Warp quickly agreed.

They were about to do just that when Shenzi noticed a figure loom out of the gloom behind the group. "Who is _that_?!"

Immediately everybody spun around to see who she was pointing at, Warp and Lucretia aiming their blasters at this latest potential enemy.

"Don't shoot! It's only me!" A familiar voice cried out. The figure stepped out from the cover of shadow. It was Jackrabbit. He quickly glanced over his shoulder, clearly terrified of someone or something. "I don't have time to explain. Here's your _real_ assignment. This and the disk will reveal everything." He gave Morgana a second envelope, a large manila one. "At least everything I know of."

Mozenrath sneered at him. "How can we trust anything you say or give us?"

Most of the others agreed, though Morgana and Shenzi did so with less conviction. Dawn neither said nor did anything, merely scrutinizing Jackrabbit with hooded eyes instead. The team was ready to leave when she suddenly cried out, "Wait! I want to hear him out."

Jackrabbit took his chance. "I put my job on the line for you," He began, addressing them all. His usual timidity seemed to have fled him, replaced by a genuine air of frustration and desperation that bordered on anger. "If I'm found out, I could lose everything I have. I wouldn't risk that much if I didn't think you would trust me!"

"Why would you sell out your boss for total strangers?" Warp demanded. "What's in it for you?"

"Nothing. I just don't like Mr. Khan's new company, that's all. Now will you let me pass?"

"Let him go." Dawn commanded Warp and Lucretia, whose weapons were still trained on Jackrabbit.

But neither showed any sign that they were willing to go along with that course of action, and Lucretia merely gave Dawn a dismissive look. "And just how are _you_ so sure he's even telling the truth?"

A growl of frustration escaping her, Dawn glared back. "Have you two stopped to consider what Khan would do to him if he discovered what he was doing here? Why would he risk angering that psycho just to help us?"

It was Robert who finally broke the stalemate. "Just let him leave. No harm in checking out that disc at least."

Warp and Lucretia looked reluctant, but finally withdrew their weapons.

Jackrabbit scurried by them and over to his small car, which was further down the row of vehicles. Just as he started to open the door, there was a loud explosion that left the group's ears ringing. The next thing any of them knew, the car was engulfed in flames and Jackrabbit was nowhere to be seen.

The nine were transfixed by the violent scene until a loud alarm suddenly rang out through the parking garage, further startling them.

"Come on!" Mozenrath shouted at everybody over the chaos. "Get to the Hammer!"

"But Jackrabbit -!" Tears leaving dark trails down her face, Shenzi attempted to run over to the burning car, but Mozenrath pulled her back.

"He's dead! He died helping us escape! Do you want his death to count for something? Let's move!"

Snapped out of their daze, the group didn't waste any time in fleeing the parking garage and heading back to the Hammer. To their relief, the ship was still there and hadn't been tampered with as far as they could tell. After climbing aboard, the group buckled up as the Hammer took off, leaving Khan Tower behind for good.


	5. Betrayal, Part 2

**Episode** **Three: Betrayal, Part Two**

Shere Khan and Don Karnage were sitting together in the former's office drinking brandy when the phone rang. Khan answered. Listening to the person on the other end, he thanked them before hanging up and turning to the Air Pirate wearing a smile. "Well done, Karnage."

Before Karnage could respond, their partner interrupted the celebratory mood. "Khan! These stones are fake. They double-crossed us!"

Khan's satisfied expression became a dark glower.

"What now?" Karnage looked between Shere Khan and his new benefactor.

"They may know about us." The voice replied. "Follow them, take what they have. I'll make sure that wherever they go they'll be hunted down like dogs. They'll come _crawling_ back to us!"

"In other words, crush them!" Khan snarled, picking up one of the phony orbs from his desk and hurling it to the floor. The orb shattered in a shower of tiny crystalline shards.

Seeing the typically composed Shere Khan in this state, Don Karnage decided it might be wise if he didn't stick around. He prepared to head out when Khan suddenly stopped him. "Karnage. Our associates wish to give you a present." Opening one of his desk drawers, he withdrew a small dark green box and handed it to him.

As Karnage took the box, whatever was inside emitted a low hiss, causing him to momentarily pause.

"It will aid you on your assignment." Shere Khan cryptically explained. "Now go!"

Karnage bowed before heading out.

* * *

The Hammer glided through the night sky as silently as an owl in flight. Nobody spoke, still shell-shocked and stunned by Jackrabbit's fate. Opening the little packet Jackrabbit had given her earlier, Morgana could see it contained a reel of magnetic tape and a slip of paper. She took out the magnetic reel and held it out so that everybody could see it. The item left Mozenrath, Dijon, and Shenzi nonplussed, though Mozenrath was quick to downplay his own bewilderment.

"And that is?..." Shenzi impatiently demanded.

"Hey Gray, you're old. Why don't _you_ tell us what it is?" Warp sent a sly look Robert's way.

Robert gave him another one of his unimpressed looks.

Morgana decided to intervene before an argument possibly broke out between the two men. "It's a magnetic tape recording. My father used to listen to music on these." She turned to Lucretia and Warp. "Is there something we can play it on?"

"Maybe." Lucretia took the object from her. "This ship's a blend of Puckworld tech and some pretty sophisticated stuff. It still has features that even we don't know much of anything about yet."

"Speak for yourself." Warp cockily retorted, earning an eye roll from her and the others.

An examination of the dashboard revealed that the audio system was indeed capable of playing the reel. The magnetic reel was inserted into the player and turned on.

A female voice could be heard to hiss, "I didn't waste valuable energy bringing them here just so they could fail. This had better work, Khan!"

As he listened to the unfamiliar speaker, Mozenrath felt a chill course through his slight frame and a slight stab of pain in his gauntleted hand.

Staring at the speakers, Shenzi cocked her head to one side in a very dog-like fashion. "What had better work?"

The others hushed her, intent on listening to the recording uninterrupted.

"Patience. They will deliver, and if they don't, they can either be returned or disposed of. It's no big loss. They won't be missed." Replied a nonchalant voice that they recognized all too well - Shere Khan.

A single thought ran through all of them in the same instance, immediately registering on their faces. _Khan had been setting them up the entire time._

"So our plans can proceed then?" The woman asked.

"Of course. They'll deliver what we need, and soon the New Order will take effect. Your endgame will finally come to fruition, I will get my power, and _they'll_ get what they deserve."

"Someone's listening!" The woman's voice suddenly became a snarl. The recording cut off right there, followed by static.

Lucretia hit the stop button, ending the recording. Robert reacted first. Springing to his feet, he slammed a fist into the nearest wall before storming furiously out of the cockpit. His outburst taking them aback, the others watched him go without a word.

Lightning's ears drooped. "Well, it was fun while it lasted." He sighed. The rest of the team likewise began bemoaning their situation.

"Looks like our free ride isn't a free ride after all." Warp remarked.

"The main thing I got from that was that we're expendable." That was Lucretia.

"No." Dawn shook her head. "They were going to kill us either way, whether or not we succeeded. We're just loose ends to them." It was easy to hear the bitterness in her voice.

"This just raises more questions than answers." Morgana was thinking out loud. "What is this 'New Order'? Why are we supposed to deliver this stuff?"

"At least we know how we got here and why now." Lucretia pointed out. "Sort of. But who's Khan's girlfriend?"

"She's magical." Mozenrath answered as if in a daze.

Every head swiveled in his direction. "How did you -" Lightning started to ask.

Mozenrath held up his gauntlet. "I sensed it as soon as she spoke. She's more powerful than I am. I can't tell you who she is though. Morgana, is our next assignment in there as well?"

Picking up the note and skimming it, Morgana nodded. "It's the temple of Rhuel, the home of the seventh Oracle, in Iraq." She glanced around her cohorts. "They say if you look into the Oracle, it can tell your future."

"That's near Baghdad!" Dijon exclaimed. "I heard about that legend when I was a kid!"

Lightning looked his way. "The Baghdad here, or _your_ Baghdad?"

"Mine's, but… maybe it exists here too?"

"Alternate dimensions." Lightning rolled his eyes.

"So you know where this temple is?" Warp asked Dijon.

"No. It's a secret guarded among the locals there. My brother probably knows though!"

"Good. Then that's where we're going." Mozenrath announced with finality as he settled back in his seat.

Everybody but Morgana gawked at him.

"Are you _crazy_?!" Warp exclaimed. "After what we just found out? As far as I'm concerned, I'm getting a one-way ticket back to Tomorrowland! I'm outta here!" Getting up out of his chair, he started to leave in the same direction Robert had gone.

"And just how long will you stay with Zurg if Khan is on your trail?" Mozenrath demanded. "Your old employer sounds like the type to hand you over without so much as a second thought. Besides, if you go and Khan catches up with me, I'll gladly tell him where you are!"

"Yeah!"

"So will I!"

"Me too!"

Warp's expression steadily soured as the others chimed in, and he finally came back and sat down, arms crossed and clearly fuming.

Mozenrath's intense gaze swept around the bridge."We're getting set up, and we deserve to know why."

"And we deserve to know why this information was so important that Jackrabbit had to die." Morgana added. The two magic-users stared at one another for the longest time. It was the first time the two of them had ever agreed on something.

"Now, to this temple - all of us!" Mozenrath glared in Warp's direction, daring him to try and leave again.

* * *

The Hammer's remarkable technology took the crew from the alternate 1930s Earth to Dijon's time, which was the early 1990s. Now she prepared to land. The arid heat of their desert surroundings couldn't penetrate the ship's hull, which was designed to withstand high temperatures.

Looking through the windshield, Mozenrath spotted the large city that their ship was nearing. "Feels like home, though more modern."

A fighter jet suddenly careened out of the sky, knocking the Hammer slightly off course.

"I know we're not in 1937 anymore, but we probably ought to land outside the city." Morgana suggested as the fighter jet roared past them. "We don't want the residents to think aliens are invading."

From their seats Warp and Lucretia regarded her quizzically.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that." Morgana quickly amended.

So the Hammer landed right outside the city limits (though later Dijon said, "We get so many strange aircraft from the military here that no one would really think anything of us."), and the group exited the ship. They proceeded to walk into the poorest section of the city. Its inhabitants, all anthro animals like Dijon was, consisted of dogs, a number of whom were similar to Dijon, as well as desert-dwelling species like camels, fennec foxes, jerboas, a few other different types of mammals and reptiles, and a small assortment of birds.

The party struggled to cope with the midday heat, some more effectively than others. Dawn and Robert quickly shed the outer layers of their respective wardrobes, while the internal cooling system inside Warp's armor kicked in and Shenzi and Lightning were panting. The only ones who seemed largely unfazed were Dijon and Mozenrath.

"My brother's temple is this way." Dijon informed his cohorts. As he glanced up at the intense blue sky, he saw a large feral bird of some kind wheeling overhead. Instantly Dijon's demeanor changed. He stopped and curled up into a duck-and-cover position, whimpering, "Please don't let it be him! Please don't let it be him!"

"Don't let it be who?" Warp asked, looking down at the dog. "It's just some bird."

The bird in question flew onwards until it was out of sight. "I thought it was someone else." Dijon hastily said, getting up and feeling the tips of his long droopy ears grow hot. He ignored the others' confused stares and led them further on.

When the nine arrived in the marketplace, Mozenrath sent Dijon over to one of the booths there to purchase some more appropriate attire for the others so they could better cope with the temperatures as well as blend in better. once that task was done, Dijon was ready to rejoin his teammates when his ears suddenly recognized a familiar Scottish brogue coming from somewhere nearby. Its owner was arguing with one of the stall owners, demanding a cheaper price for the length of rope he'd just bought. Sure enough, as he scanned the packed area, Dijon spied the World's Richest Duck standing at one of the booths there. Scrooge McDuck stood out from the locals in his safari jacket, spats, and pith helmet.

' _Oh great.'_ Dijon thought, dismayed. _'First I think I see Merlock, and now there's Mr. McDuck. This just isn't my day. I can't_ wait _to see what it's going to be like when I meet up with Poupon.'_ At least Scrooge wasn't anywhere near where he or the rest of the Near Dozen needed to go.

They walked until they'd left the marketplace behind and the packed together buildings opened out into a broad avenue. "There it is." Dijon pointed down the avenue, which was lined on either side by a row of golden elephant statues that seemed to go on forever. Beyond them, a winding trail led the way to the beautiful temple that stood perched atop a hill. The sight of the tall hill earned groans of annoyance from Dijon's cohorts.

After a trek that felt like it lasted forever, the group finally set foot inside the temple. The only sounds that could be heard were voices lifted in prayer in another room nearby.

Warp turned to Dijon. "These guys are supposed to be monks, but what's up with all the gold elephants?"

Dijon shrugged. He'd never really thought about that before, but Warp made a good point.

That was when a jackal in plain brown robes approached the visitors. "We're here to see Poupon." Dijon whispered to him.

"He's in seclusion and refuses to be seen." The brother answered. If he was nonplussed by the sight of the unusual strangers, then he wasn't showing it.

"Well, bring him up." Mozenrath tersely ordered. "Tell him it's an emergency."

"Tell him that his brother is here." Dijon added.

It was plainly evident that the jackal was reluctant to grant them access to Poupon. Sighing, he finally nodded and left, disappearing down a series of steps that led into a lower level of the temple. The nine stood to one side of the immense room in complete silence, taking in the bare stone walls and floors, and the huge gong that stood near the entrance way. The smell of incense hung heavy in the air, and torches in wall brackets served to light the building. Dijon felt uncomfortable as he usually did whenever he was in a place of worship, as though he didn't belong there and profaned it just by being inside.

"Dijon?" The voice that spoke his name was curiously soft. A brown dog anthro bearing a strong resemblance to Dijon except for being taller ascended the top of the staircase. He was dressed in a simple brown robe which had a hood that left much of his face hidden. When he drew back his hood, a shock ran down Dijon's spine. There was clearly something wrong with his brother. He'd always been thin, like Dijon, but now he appeared practically emaciated, and his formerly bright eyes were now dull and glazed over. He coughed slightly and rubbed his chest as though it hurt him.

"Poupon! Everybody, this is my brother, Poupon." Dijon introduced them before coming forward to embrace him.

Angry, Poupon slid away to avoid his embrace. " _Don't._ What are you doing here? You're in trouble again, aren't you?"

Dijon shook his head, internally telling himself that now was not a good time to talk about Khan. "I don't have time to explain. These are my friends, and we need help searching for the Temple of Rheul so we can find the Seventh Oracle." Poupon's eyes widened at those words as Dijon went on. "Do you know where it is?"

"Of course I do. What a coincidence that you are only the third party to come asking about it." Poupon sardonically retorted.

"Who else was here?" Morgana pressed. "A tiger?"

"No." Poupon replied, quizzically glancing over at Dijon, who now looked embarrassed. "Earlier, Scrooge McDuck, and before him was a large wizard by the name of… Merlon, I think it was?"

Dijon's insides turned to ice. "Merlock! You mean a big, scary wizard with a lot of power who is obviously not dead?"

Poupon nodded. "That sounds like him. He became quite agitated when I told him I didn't know where the temple was." He pointed over to a large hole in the wall across from where everyone stood, obviously a remainder of both Merlock's temper and magic.

Morgana continued her line of questioning. "Then you don't know where it is?"

"No, I do, I just wasn't going to tell him."

"Then you can just tell us." Mozenrath sounded perfectly calm, but his words carried an implied threat. To drive the point home, Lucretia fingered the blaster at her hip, making sure that Poupon could see the weapon.

Arching an eyebrow, Poupon turned to his little brother. "Not in trouble, hmm?" He went on to address the entire group now. "Only because my brother is among you I will tell you. Meet me later tonight in my study."

* * *

Later that evening, the gang followed the jackal as he led them to Poupon's study, where they all crammed into the modest space. The jackal turned to them. "Poupon will arrive any minute. Now wait here and don't touch anything."

As he started to leave, Dijon pulled him to the side, away from everyone else. "Is there anything wrong with him?"

"You know I can't answer that." The priest responded before leaving them there.

Looking around the area, Lightning gave a snort. "What does that guy think we're gonna do?" He asked, referring to the jackal and his orders to not touch anything. "Steal his tattered robes or the only two pieces of old furniture he owns?"

Earlier, those among them in need of a wardrobe change had taken the opportunity to do so. Now everyone (save for Mozenrath, Warp, Morgana, and Dijon) was wearing either trousers or shorts and light cotton shirts.

After a few minutes, the door reopened. Poupon entered, looking pale and drawn. ' _He looks even sicker than he did earlier this morning.'_ Dijon thought as he watched him.

Poupon's arms were full of books. Dropping them on the small wooden table he had, he glared at Dijon's teammates. "Just so you know, if my brother wasn't with you, I wouldn't give the lot of you any information either. I don't trust you anymore than I trust that Merlock! I don't care what you plan to use the Oracle for, but it can't be for any good, and I don't believe that you are only acting under orders. People with motives less pure than yours have used that same excuse to get away with more atrocious deeds!"

"Spare us the self-righteous sermon and just tell us where the Oracle is!" Robert irritably snapped at him. It was the first thing anyone had heard out of him all day. Up until then he'd just been following the group around in sullen silence.

Poupon remained level. "Alright, but first I must give you a little history lesson. The Oracle arrived here in our country from Greece over two thousand years ago, and was hidden by one of our order. The legend says that there were actually seven Oracles in all, but each was destroyed by floods, earthquakes, or conquests, leaving only one behind. Every Oracle could grant only brief glimpses into one's future, but only the seventh told the complete future. It is said that those who have looked directly into it have died or gone mad in the process. That is why it is a guarded secret among us. Now, do you still want it?"

The group all looked around at one another before nodding.

"Very well, I warned you then. I don't know the exact location of the temple, but there is, or rather was, a map."

"What happened to it?" Lucretia asked.

"I gave it to Mr. McDuck." Came Poupon's clipped response.

"If this Oracle's so big and bad, then why'd you give it to him?" Dawn demanded, crossing her arms.

"Because between nine terrorists, a mad magician, and Mr. McDuck, I choose him!"

Lightning laughed a little uneasily. "Terrorists? That's, uh, a pretty strong word there, fella."

Pulling out several sheets of paper from inside his right sleeve, Poupon shoved them at the corgi.

"What's this?"Lightning frowned as he took the papers and began looking them over. The first one featured two side-by-side photographs of Warp. One was a profile shot, while the other was a head-on view of him. In both images he sported a rakish grin. Likewise, the remaining papers featured pictures of the rest of their odd little group, either taken from mug shots (namely Robert's, Dawn's, Dijon's, and the aforementioned Warp's), personal photographs, or detailed sketches.

Dawn came to look over his shoulder and gasped. "That's a wanted poster! But how –?"

"Let me see. Well whaddaya know, for once they used a good photo of me!" Warp laughed appreciatively as he studied the poster that Lightning passed to him.

Wanted posters meant nothing to Mozenrath - literally. He didn't know what they were. "Focus! We can discuss all that later." He barked at the others before turning his attention back to Poupon. "Now where is this McDuck's campsite?"

Poupon said nothing.

"You can either tell us and we can take the map, or we can hold you hostage and you can lead us there."

Poupon looked him squarely in the eye. "North of here." Suddenly, he doubled over in a fit of coughing. Alarmed, Dijon patted his back until he was finished, pretending to ignore the specks of blood that fell from Poupon's mouth.

"Let's go." Mozenrath said to the others.

"If you don't mind Mozenrath, I want to stay with my brother." Dijon's voice was faint.

Mozenrath rolled his eyes. "This wouldn't have anything to do with your 'friend' who's also after the map, would it?"

Morgana had had just about enough of the wizard's attitude. "Let him stay, Mozenrath. It's his brother! Did it ever occur to you that they might want to catch up with each other?"

"It just seems quite convenient that he suddenly wants to spend time with a brother who he originally didn't seem very interested in reconnecting with." Turning away from her, he stared at Dijon. He squirmed under Mozenrath's steely gaze, but said nothing.

Morgana blocked Mozenrath's view of Dijon, her hands on her hips. "I'm going to take a shot in the dark here and guess that you're not close to your own family?"

" _My_ family has nothing to do with the point I'm trying to make, but I'll humor you, witch. I have no family. There, are you happy? I, the terrible heartless wizard, have no one!"

"Just as well. I'd hate to be your brother." That was Warp. "You sure you didn't eat your sibling in the womb and that's why you don't have anyone?"

Grinding his teeth together, Mozenrath threw the other man a dark look. "Where did all this sentimentality come from all of a sudden? You're all supposed to be criminals!" He rounded on Dijon. "You want to hide out here? Fine! You can become an almond farmer for all I care! We're wasting valuable time here! Come on!" He snapped at the others before storming out of the study.

The rest of the Dirty Near Dozen exchanged glances.

"That man's professionalism never fails to impress." Dawn dryly remarked, looking in the direction Mozenrath had gone.

Dijon caught Shenzi's eye as she was leaving with the others and smiled wistfully at her. Realizing that she was staring, she quickly turned away. "Don't be surprised if we don't come back for you." She teased before disappearing out the door.


	6. Betrayal, Part 3

**Episode** **Three: Betrayal, Part Three**

Poupon waited until the others left before he turned to his brother. "What is going on, Dijon? What are you not telling me?" He fell into another coughing fit. After that one subsided he collapsed to the floor, weakened. Dijon helped him stand and led him out of the study. Remembering where Poupon's room was from the last visit, that was where Dijon brought him, gently guiding him to his bed, where he laid down.

"I don't know, Poupon." Dijon honestly answered. "We were originally hired to find some objects and return them to our employer Shere Khan, but now that has gone wrong."

"Your employer is the tiger that woman mentioned earlier, I presume." Poupon guessed with more certainty than he would ever know. "Dijon, every time I see you, you are in deeper and deeper trouble. If you're not stealing, you're working for a criminal. If not that, it's working with… people like your new friends." His muzzle wrinkled with distaste. "I used to fear that you would never change in my lifetime and now I know."

"I suppose you'll be calling me demon spawn next." Dijon muttered, pouring a drink of water from a pitcher nearby for Poupon.

He accepted the glass of water. "What was that?"

Dijon sighed. "Nothing, forget it. It doesn't matter."

"Dijon, I can't predict the future, but I fear for you if you stay with those people. No good can come of your association with them. You will come to a tragic end. I can tell that not one of them has ever done an honest deed a day in their lives. Are you staying with them?"

"I have no choice. I have to."

"There is always a choice." Poupon insisted, drawing himself up. "You can choose to live the life you have, or -"

"Or I can be holed up for the rest of my life in a mosque somewhere because Mama insisted. No thank you." Dijon's tone was uncharacteristically sarcastic.

Poupon lowered his head.

Dijon regretted the words as soon as they came out. "Poupon, I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean it."

"I know you didn't." Poupon said softly. "But I know why you are really doing all this: pure greed. Dijon, I don't want to lose you to greed the way we lost our father."

Dijon's eyes flashed in disbelief. Their father was one of many subjects the two of them never talked about. For Dijon he was nothing more than a dim memory, a distant voice in his mind, a face he could barely recall. For Poupon he was a source of irritation, someone who he didn't want to recall. Mama was the same way. When he was younger, Dijon would often pester his mother and brother with questions about their father, but Poupon's answer was always the same: "Please don't talk about him." Their mother was convinced that he was the devil incarnate, and she could never resist referring to him as a demon. "What does he have to do with this? I don't even know if he's alive or dead."

Poupon shook his head. "Of course you don't remember him. He left home when you were five. He ruined our lives."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Anyways, living with him would have been better than living with Mama."

"Allah forbid it!" Poupon tried to shout, but his voice and body were too weakened by his mysterious affliction to get much louder then his normal speaking tone. "Why do you think Mama reverted back to her maiden name after he left? Why do you think she became angry if we spoke even a word of Spanish? Because it was his native language and he taught it to us! She didn't want anything to remind her of that man and what he did to us! He ruined our lives, neglected our mother and us, and hurt us. He was obsessed with gold and finding this golden city -"

"- where even the rivers are gold and gold could be plucked from the very walls." Dijon finished. "I remember that much about him. He used to tell me that story every night. But I also remember Mama and how she would tell me I was a worthless bum, and how she would keep the door locked even though she knew I was standing outside. She would ignore me while I looked in through the window staring at her. Back then I don't know who I hated more - her for doing it, Papa for leaving and being such an awful person to be compared to, me for causing her to hate me, or you because she loved you more."

"She was scared. Sometimes she would cry when she came to the temple and told me how you were. You broke her heart, and she was afraid that you would end up like him." A silence fell over the two brothers.

Exhausted from having talked so much, Poupon shivered. Dijon pulled the covers over his brother.

"Do you still hate me?" Poupon asked.

Dijon sighed. "No, I don't." There was still so much that he wanted to say to Poupon however. That he wasn't a bad person. That he didn't understand how Mama could proclaim to love him but then treat him the way she had. And he couldn't really speak for the rest of the Dirty Near Dozen, but Morgana and Shenzi weren't bad or dishonest like Poupon believed they were either. But every time he looked down at Poupon's gaunt form and labored breathing, the words died before he could get them out. "I don't even know if I hate her now. What's the matter?"

"I'm really sick. I caught it last winter and I kept thinking it would get better, but now I don't think I'm going to make it."

Dijon held Poupon's hand as the monk drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Scrooge McDuck paced around his desert campsite, growing more and more frustrated with each turn of his webbed feet. Fenton Crackshell, his loyal accountant and current traveling companion, watched the septuagenarian duck from where he sat in the entranceway of their tent, seeking refuge from the relentless heat.

"We've searched high and low for that temple for three days and haven't found a thing!" Scrooge complained.

"Maybe we should go back to Duckburg." Fenton suggested.

Scrooge leveled a ferocious glare at him. "We have to find it and we are nae goin' home until we do!"

When Scrooge had turned away, Fenton rolled his eyes and shook his head. He shouldn't have even suggested going home, he knew. Ever since Launchpad McQuack had taken that job in St. Canard and Mr. McDuck's nephews had moved back in with their uncle Donald last year, Scrooge had been jumping from one treasure hunt to another, each more dangerous than the last. Maybe it was to fill a void left by his loved ones, or to overcompensate for those losses, or just to prove that even though he was getting on in age he could still do it. Fenton didn't know. He wasn't a psychiatrist, but he knew what it meant for him personally: extended hours, near-constant dangerous situations, being Gizmoduck more than Fenton, and lots of time away from his fiancée Gandra Dee. But he didn't want to tell Scrooge all that.

"Do ye have the map, lad?" Scrooge asked him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yes sir." Fenton nodded obediently. The map was right there with him in the tent on top of the sheets. They'd been studying it earlier.

"Well we need tae study it more, maybe head further north." Scrooge said, squatting down and using a stick he'd found to scrawl out yet another possible route through the desert in the sand. Without looking up from his handiwork he motioned for Fenton to come over. The two of them were so caught up in planning their next move that they didn't hear a tearing sound as something ripped a big hole in the tent flap near the bottom, or see a grappling hook slip inside. Its clamps, which seemed to move of their own accord, took hold of the map.

Fenton happened to turn around just in time to see the map being pulled through the newly-made hole. "Mister McDuck! Someone just took the map!"

Scrooge seared him with a look that could've melted a glacier. "You were supposed to be guarding it!"

"I'm sorry sir, but look!" Fenton pointed to the hole in the tent flap. "Something - or rather, _someone_ tore through here. There's only one thing to do!" Quickly he dug around inside the tent and came back out with a large brown suitcase which had been obscured under the sheets. Opening it, he uttered the words, "Blatherin' blatherskites!"

What appeared to be individual pieces of armor and other bits of machinery suddenly flew out of the suitcase as if energized and began attaching themselves to Fenton. Once the transformation was complete, in place of the accountant now stood a figure outfitted in formidable-looking mostly white power armor. He was supported by a single wheel, and a helmet obscured much of his face, save for his bill. "This is a job for Gizmoduck!"

"Yer nae goin' anywhere without me! That's me map!" Scrooge proclaimed, following Gizmoduck as the superhero sped out into the desert.

* * *

Clutching the map in his hand (yes, hand, as he'd switched out the grappling hook in order to hold the map better), Warp ran back to the place where the others were waiting for him. A large rock formation peeked out of the sand, offering precious shade that the team was taking cover in. They were out in the wilderness now. Mountains and miles of sand had replaced paved streets and buildings.

"Still got it." Warp crowed, regarding Mozenrath smugly. "I believe some apologies are in order."

"AllrightI'msorryfordoubtingyouyoudidagoodjob." Mozenrath mumbled.

Realizing that it was as close to an apology as he was would get from his rival, Warp didn't pursue the issue any further. Instead he set the map down on a rock and carefully rolled it out. It was faded and yellowed, the paper brittle with age and dotted with symbols and markings. At the bottom of the map was an inscription written in ancient Arabic. Mozenrath translated it for the others, who'd gathered around for a better look at their prize. "The temple lies in a canyon in the mountains."

"Cool, so where to first?" Lucretia asked.

"First stop is the two hills."

"I see them." Shenzi pointed to the hills rising ahead of them. "Let's go!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that!" What could only be described as a loud and stereotypically "heroic" voice interrupted their plans. What looked to be a duck in high-tech armor that was mounted on one wheel like a unicycle wheeled out from behind the rocks to block their way.

"How long do you stay fresh in that tin can?" Warp cracked.

"That's the pot calling the kettle rusted." The duck retorted, referring to the ex-ranger's suit and cybernetic arm. "You are in the presence of Gizmoduck. Now, hand over the map, evildoers!"

Morgana tried to obscure herself behind her cohorts, who were surprised by the superhero's entrance, as discreetly as she could, but to no avail. Gizmoduck instantly recognized her and was equally taken aback. "Morgana? What are you doing here?"

Her cover blown, Morgana gave up on hiding and revealed herself to her Justice Duck teammate. "Well, I had to find something to fill my time after you gave me the boot!"

"Good job, hon. Take that anger and build on it." Lucretia commented in a stage whisper from where she was standing.

"I'm sorry it had to come to that, but what you did was a clear breach of Justice Duck protocol." Gizmoduck replied. There was an unhappy note to his voice.

"Listen, I love a good reunion just like the next person," Mozenrath jumped in, "But we need to find that Oracle, so we'll be keeping the map."

"So do we. Now, I'd like my map back!" A new speaker, this one Scottish if his accent was anything to go by, angrily declared. Scrooge McDuck strode onto the scene, his cane pointing at them.

"Now come on." Lucretia purred, slinking over to Gizmoduck. draping herself over him, she began playing with his bill. "We just need that itty bitty map, and then we'll be on our lil' old way."

Gizmoduck could only blush under his helmet and stammer.

Scrooge used his cane to lightly tap Lucretia on her shoulder. When he had the taller duck's attention, he waved a dollar bill at her. "Lass, here's a fifty. Stay away from my bodyguard."

Lucretia's mouth dropped open. "I am not a prostitute!" But she removed herself from Gizmoduck and discreetly pocketed the bill.

Hearing the high-pitched whine of an electronic device of some kind charging, Gizmoduck turned to see Robert and Dawn behind him. Their respective laser rifle and blaster were aimed dead center at him.

"No hard feelings, Gadgetduck." Robert bluntly told him. "This is just business." Both pulled the triggers.

Nothing happened. Bemused, the two of them stared down at their weapons.

A compartment on Gizmoduck's suit opened, and a couple of metal arms ending in claws popped out. Extending outwards, the arms snatched the guns out of their surprised owners' grasps and brought them to Gizmoduck. He then very calmly broke the rifle in half before simply crushing the blaster in one hand before dropping both ruined guns to the ground.

"Okay, color me impressed." Lightning remarked to no one in particular.

While Gizmoduck appeared to be distracted with Robert and Dawn, Shenzi rushed in from behind and jumped on him. Still completely calm, he pressed a button on his right gauntlet that sent out a small electric shock. Stunned by the shock, Shenzi lost her grip and landed hard on her backside.

"Ow… not one of my better ideas…" She groaned.

Mozenrath took the opportunity to make a break for it with the map, only to be intercepted by Scrooge. He grabbed hold of the other end of the map in an attempt to wrest it away from Mozenrath.

"Very stupid, old man!" Mozenrath growled through gritted teeth. A tug-of-war broke out – up until the point the map ripped right down the middle.

 _"Look what you did!"_ Duck and wizard shouted at each other in the same instance.

The others had also witnessed the accident. "Why can't we just fix it?" Dawn asked as she and the rest of the group approached the bickering pair.

"Sure. Got some scotch tape or glue?" Lucretia joked.

Dawn sniffed. "I just asked."

"It was partially created with the magic of whoever made it, so once torn it can't be bound again." Mozenrath groaned, rubbing a hand across his eyes.

"I hate all this fairy tale crap." Warp grumbled.

Gizmoduck stated the obvious. "Well, it looks like we'll have to work together, even if we don't like it." He glanced over in Morgana's direction. For her part, Morgana looked away from the other duck.

An incredulous Mozenrath scoffed. "Yeah, how about we don't and just say that we did?"

Scrooge was on the same page. "What? Are ye daft, man? I'll nae work with a bunch of crooks!"

The others just stared at the duo.

"Well… all right." Scrooge reluctantly began. "But dinnae be surprised when this is all over that I have ye arrested!" He pointed at Mozenrath.

"And dinnae be surprised that once this is over ye will nae be able tae find us, laddie!" Mozenrath shot back, mocking Scrooge's accent.

The back and forth earned an eye roll from Warp. "C'mon, could we just get on with finding this Oracle thing already? It ain't gettin' any cooler out here."

The others echoed his impatience to leave, even Gizmoduck. So the Dirty Half Dozen (currently down by one), along with Scrooge and Gizmoduck, started the arduous trek across the desert to the two hills.


End file.
